Daughters and Lovers - A Citrus FanFiction
by LittleElisa
Summary: Set right after events in chapter 9. It's going to be a multi chap Ff and it's obviously about how "our" girls fare with each other... after a certain clamorous event.
1. Chapter 1

all credit for QC goes to **angel0wonder** who lent a saving hand to the little illiterate I am, not only correcting mistakes but giving useful advice for the future.

She was building up anger, pure, sharp anger.

Yuzu had kissed another girl.

Mei saw them, right in the middle of the road from the grocery store to home.  
She heard Yuzu shouting something along the "what if someone saw" line to that girl.  
_Well, the wrong someone saw you_.  
She had looked right in the eye of that little minx who was clinging on Yuzu and she could just glare at her. She glared, and that was it. She couldn't do anything else, anyway, it wasn't like her to make a scene.  
She kept the way back home without saying a word.  
_Was that the reason Yuzu was so late?_  
_She said she was at the Karaoke with Harumi. Who the hell was that (really, PINK !?) pink haired brat?_  
Mei didn't even take note of the fact that she had reached home, she entered the little garden gate and clenched her fist on the groceries bag.  
She tossed away her shoes and entered the kitchen, sitting heavily on a chair.

She was angry with Yuzu and with that girl, frustrated with herself for not have been able to react at the moment and now paranoid with the consequences of that feeling.  
She was even supposed to wait for Yuzu with a smile, given the _oh so mushy_ phone call she gave her about half an hour ago.

Mei had called her sister to know what she would have liked for dinner and at the other end of the phone she answered all gleeful that it should have been her to choose the ingredients, so that, once home, Yuzu would have cooked whatever Mei liked.  
_Damn her and her constant kindness. Always a step ahead with that weird whatever-it-was feeling between them. So unintentionally blatant in her showing love for her… and now THIS?_

_It was hard to keep up with her … so damn hard.  
_

Well she was NOT going to wait for her tonight. She had chosen Italian food for that evening meal and she would have not waited a minute more for Yuzu, when she was probably having fun with that petite pinky bitch… out there, somewhere…  
_in a love hotel maybDON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT THAT!_  
Mei grabbed the bag and scattered all the contents on the kitchen counter.

Yuzu wasn't probably even coming back home that evening.  
She was going to make dinner for herself, or at least she could try.

But Yuzu did came home, and when she did, the chops of a knife were heard since the entrance.  
Mei heard the door open and she could not repress the smallest smile that popped on her lips in thinking _well at least she's not doing __**that**__ with her._

But that little relief was instantly wiped away from the sensation that She, the _Presidentofthestudentcouncil-maidenofsteel_ was agonizing over her sister, whom she had kissed more then once, whom she was not so sure what she felt for anymore.  
Confusion and irritation grab hold of her mind once again. 

"Tadaima" said Yuzu to draw the attention of the brunette in the kitchen, who was hacking some tomatoes on a board.

"You must have had a lot of fun! You're late, you know…" said Mei without giving the other girl a look.  
"I'm sorry I had to escort … Harumin home"  
_  
Yeah, Harumin_ thought Mei and said:  
"You do look happy though, did something nice happen?" feeling her jaw clench while still chopping the tomatoes and thinking on how she liked to turn the Knife in her own wound.

Yuzu noticed that her expression was hardening.  
_She must have had a rough day… what is she so upset for?_  
But Yuzu was a girl of action, not of thought, and put a hand on the one Mei was holding the knife with.

Mei suddenly raised her head and looked at her with a fierce expression.  
_  
What kind of look is that, is she angry with me?  
_Yuzu felt again the twinge of the morning Mei told her that they should stop trying to be more than sisters and that she had not interest in her, at least not the way Yuzu had in Mei.  
She gulped down the pain and said  
"It's just nice being back home"  
looking right in Mei's eyes with one of her stern smiles.

_Aaand there it goes all your anger, eh?  
_Thought Mei scolding herself, instantly sliding out of her touch.

"Would you like a hand with that?" Yuzu added.  
Mei quickly used the knife to pour the tomatoes in the pan and turned her face back to the kitchen  
"I started this, I may as well finish" she said pretending a confidence she didn't have.

Yuzu sighed and turned away from her "Than I'm going to take a shower, ok?"  
"Be quick, it'll be ready soon" came the dry response.  
"Haaai Kaaaichou!" said Yuzu chanting, stretching her arms while leaving for the bathroom.  
Mei clenched her teeth… she was so nervous she wasn't even able to stand a stupid jest like that. She must control herself, she was not usually that nervous around Yuzu.

When Yuzu came back, on her plate there was something indistinguishable between a worm ball and a somewhat blackish ramen…  
She looked at her sister who was trying to hide the embarrassment for the appalling result of her first culinary attempt.  
"It's supposed to be Pasta al Nero di seppia with sautéed tomatoes cubes but it doesn't quite looks like the pic on the cookery book…" started Mei sitting down.  
"I'm sure it'll taste good once you eat it" said Yuzu sitting as well and joining hands to say her thanks.

The first mouthful was horrifying.  
A mix of salty, vaguely fishy taste, with crunchy little crumbs of burnt tomato…  
literally disgusting.  
But Yuzu merely flinched while tasting the first cooked meal of her sister.  
Mei saw her expression, though Yuzu dissimulated, and asked "Is it that terrible?"  
"No…not really…" said Yuzu painfully swallowing and turning her fork on her plate to take another serving.  
Mei did the same but the moment the food touched her tongue she couldn't stand it and she simply pulled out her tongue to make the mouthful drop back on the plate. Then she quickly stood up and grabbed Yuzu's fork, still on mid air towards her mouth, and the plate with the other hand. "You should have told me"  
"It's not so bad!"  
"not so bad? I was going to throw up on my own cookery!"  
"Well… it could be improved surely. But it's your first time cooking something for me, I just wanted to be … nice"  
Mei had gone to the trash bin to drop the food and went back to the table to take her own plate  
"That's your problem Yuzu, sometimes you are too kind…"  
_And you don't know how it feels not to be able to be the same.  
_"…too kind for me"

_Such a sad face_, Yuzu was not able to reply. Instead she stood up to help washing the dishes and reflected on how Mei tonight seemed gloomier than usual.  
_I thought she was cute to call this afternoon and that she was going to be happy with just the two of us home. Wait, that's me who's happy to be home alone with her_.  
Given the little speech they had, referring to that kiss they shared, maybe Mei was disturbed just for the same reason Yuzu was so happy with.

"I should cook you an _omurice_, what do you think?" began Yuzu to ease the atmosphere.  
Mei sighed heavily and finished wiping the dishes. She didn't look Yuzu in the face.  
"Some rice and fish will do, I'm just not so hungry anymore…" said dropping the towel on the counter.  
Yuzu watched her walk towards the couch and grab the remote to do blind zapping on the tv… _what's so wrong with her?  
_"Ok… I guess"

Sometime later they had finished to eat the not so complicated but surely more tasty rice and fish, while Yuzu tried nonchalantly to regain a normal level of conversation between them.  
"You know, I owe you … I could repay you with some cooking lessons, what do you think…"  
Yuzu waited for an answer but she gained a blank stare from her sister who that evening was increasingly, seriously weird "you know, the tutoring… Mei" she called her, shaking a hand in front of her face. A second later Mei seemed to regain consciousness but Yuzu had already given up and left.

"What?" Mei said, finally turning towards her.

"I was saying…" said Yuzu from the kitchen where she went to bring the plates to clean  
"I could give you some cooking lessons" Mei looked at her for the first time in ages.  
"I mean… to repay you of your tutoring" said then Yuzu sitting back at the table.  
Mei just lowered her eyes and mumbled  
"I don't think I could be a student as good as you was"  
Yuzu pushed back her chair after a second of realization "Was? What do you mean!... You know something I don't!"  
Mei sighed (for the hundredth time that evening) and said, standing and heading again for the couch  
"According to the results we had to organize today with the student council _you may have passed_ the test better than expected"  
"FOR REAL!?" Shouted Yuzu grabbing her sister from the shoulders and hugging her from the back "Did I pass that hell of test!? That's amazing!"  
Her breath tickled Mei's neck and the girl shivered.

_God why, WHY is it so hard to shut this feeling out when necessary_.  
_Am I really this powerless about this?_

"Yuzu please…" came the weary reaction, that went almost unnoticed.  
"Don't I deserve a reward?" ended Yuzu laughing.  
"Yuzu PLEASE!" Shouted Mei bending forward.  
At that moment Yuzu realized what she had said, and what she was doing while saying it.  
She let go of Mei immediately. "I'm sorry Mei… I didn't mean to"  
Yuzu had a hurt expression on her face "I didn't mean it that way. Right now you must be disgusted by me"  
"Yuzu!" Mei grabbed her hand while the other girl was turning her back to her.  
"Yuzu wait, listen"  
Yuzu lifted her hands freeing herself and smiled sadly "I'm sorry I put you through this, you don't need to justify yourself, I'm going to sleep."  
_  
How can you be so stupid… it's not that…_ _at all.  
well… look at who's being stupid  
_  
Mei looked at Yuzu's back while she was heading for the stairs, to the bedroom.  
She breathed deeply.  
"I'm not BY ANY MEANS disgusted by you!" 

Yuzu turned around, gaped, silently.

"…Your reward, let's do it."

Yuzu felt a rush of heat to her face. What did she just say?  
"Mei you don't need to force yourself… if you don't want to… have nothing to do with me"

"I mean it…"

"you m-mean it?" Yuzu asked while watching her sister sitting calmly on the couch, and then kneeling gracefully, looking at her with those eyes she finally could recognize.

"Do you really want to give me time to reconsider?"  
_  
Mei was back _and Yuzu had fallen for that look for the thousandth time.  
She shook her head. Blushing clearly.

"Just a minute… you and me… alone"

Mei was thinking a series of clashing  
_What the fuck are you doing-You need to take her back-What are you going to do after!?  
_but her face showed nothing of the sort.  
The seducing tiger under that deep black eyes was back in action. All she wanted right there and now was Yuzu's attention and by all means she was going to take it.

The blonde was approaching as slowly as she managed, while thinking  
_I don't have to rush it, I have to keep calm  
I want to kiss her so bad it hurts, look at how gorgeous she is  
no, no, no, you have to make it clear before kissing her._

Yuzu stood in front of Mei with the most frightened look on her face.  
"Do I scare you?" Mei asked while Yuzu gulped down the dryness she could feel in her throat  
"Say… is it just another play kiss? Cause you know… you know what I feel for you, don't you?"

Mei thought at what she saw down to the road to home… She felt her eyes start burning.

"Well, no I don't… And right now I don't know what I feel either… So, why don't you try and make it clearer? "

Yuzu didn't know what to think, her brain right now was concentrating all her energy just to keep her from grabbing Mei and kiss her blind on the spot.  
The blonde came closer, fronting Mei and trying to sustain her glaze.  
Mei was surprising herself on noticing how the knot on her stomach was clamping and sending a hot electrical sensation all the way through her spine.  
The brunette was now not staring at her sister as she had done in the past.  
When their eyes met, between glances, neither of them could keep them firm.  
They were both blushing and Yuzu became conscious of how her heart was beating faster.  
Mei pinched a sleeve of Yuzu's pajamas and lowered her eyes on her hands that were trembling slightly.

Mei finally pulled herself upright to her knees while lightly pulling Yuzu to bent down,  
while looking at Mei in a way the other couldn't define in any other manner than adoring. The blonde raised her left hand to Mei's cheek and brushed away some of the strands that where constantly framing her face.  
Mei was fighting to restrain herself from grabbing her nape and sink her fingers into that golden waves to pull her in a kiss she found she never wanted more.  
Yuzu was breathing heavily, eyes lost… on her mouth.  
Mei pleaded "Yuzu…"  
She seemed shaken by that simple whispered word,  
her green eyes were never been so beautiful, so close.

Then she bent onward, grabbing hold of her nape with a hand and of her waist with the other and clashed onto Mei's lips with a deep inhaling breath.  
The first instants passed like this, just holding close, lips pressing possessively onto the others'. Then Mei felt her lips ease onto Yuzu's and began to lead the game.  
Yuzu didn't know where to begin to respond and she stilled… her smell, her hands sliding under her PJ's blouse on her hips up to her sides, her tongue, the tip of her tongue was sliding oh so slowly on her lower lip… it was too much for Yuzu to behold,  
she needed some air, her head was starting to spin, but, when she broke away from Mei and she saw what look she had on her face she couldn't help but feel a rush of pure gratification.  
This time was different.  
Was it really that the effect she had on Mei? She was like suspended in an instant, in mid air, completely flushed, her eyes just barely open, while waiting for Yuzu to kiss her softly again.  
She did it and heard a feeble moan escaping from her lips.

Bliss.

Yuzu kissed her again and this time she wasn't insecure anymore.  
Mei was overwhelmed by her, just by being tasted like that, revered, unhurriedly and softly but more and more avidly. Yuzu softly sucked at her lower lip and pressed herself onto her, slowly kneeling on the floor while Mei was sitting down on the sofa, following her movements, not wanting to break the partial contact they shared, closing space between them. Mei's arms now reaching to circle her back, Yuzu finally hugged her firmly, close as they could be, she pushed her tongue through Mei's lips, fully deepening the kiss,  
full fight between them,  
mouth craving for more and more touching ground.  
Yuzu felt Mei's hands on her back, clutching and clawing a bit…  
_that was heavenly_. She reclined her head to make sure there was no emptiness between them.

_I really do love you  
I really do love you_

gestures saying what words were not

When the heat of the _fight_ was over Yuzu started again caressing her lips with the tip of her tongue. The taste had changed, it was _Hers_ no more, it was _Theirs_.  
Mei unwrapped her arms from Yuzu's shoulders and started playing with her, pushing and distancing while the other was coming closer, nibbling and softly biting her lips when she reached her. Mei rejoiced when she heard a soft groan of disappointment coming from her but she was surprised when she felt herself be pulled onto her by a stronger hold on the side of her neck.  
Well, she smiled, feeling Yuzu's lips on her teeth, she wouldn't resist further, she let her hold her again while the kiss deepened once more.

Then a loud rattle of something metallic on the floor

Yuzu felt Mei spring away from her before seeing her.  
Their face paled instantly and Yuzu felt her heart stop beating.

She turned around and her mother was at the entrance, keys and bags she was holding were now on the floor.  
An expression of mute shock on her face.


	2. Chapter 2

Hi everyone! Here it is, my lil' fic second chapter, yay! I must thank you all for the nice feed back! I really really really appreciate your reviews, even if you don't like it, truly, tell me what's wrong so I can improve myself ^_^

Again, it would have never been nearly as readable without the kind help in Quality Checking by angel0wonder whom I admire and respect as my senpai, so go read her Fics.

* * *

Mei held her knees on the sofa, forehead on her arms.  
Yuzu still sat on the floor, where she had dropped herself.

Mrs. Aihara collected her luggage from the floor. "I managed to find a lift to the station so I took the earlier train…" Her tone was hollow and her face was so pale she looked ill.  
"I even brought you souvenirs from Sapporo," she said as if now that was the stupidest thing to say… and it was. "I need a cup of tea…" Then turned to the two girls. "…Will you join me?"

Yuzu tried to talk back to her mother but her throat was so dry it let out just a cracking,  
"Na-thanks."

The woman didn't actually wait for an answer. Instead she had entered the kitchen, grabbing hold of the counter as a support.

_What will she think of us?  
Is she disappointed with me?_

_Is she disgusted with us?  
Will she tell father?_

_Will things be so different from now on?_

Questions where rolling in the girls' mind.

Yuzu tried to look over her shoulder at Mei, but she saw she still had her head dropped in her arms. So instead she reached timidly for one of her feet, right behind her, and felt the girl flinch when she touched her.

She hoped she was not crying.

"Are we in this together?" Asked Yuzu in a whisper. Then slipped the hand away from that touch since their mother was coming back and that contact, at that point, looked shameful to her.

Mrs. Aihara sat at the table and stared blankly at her cup for some seconds.

"Mum…" Began Yuzu tentatively.

"How long has this been going on…?" Finally said the woman.

Yuzu found it very difficult to articulate a sentence, still feeling the rush of adrenaline from being discovered, it was hard to even think. "N-not long…"

Mrs. Aihara pressed her temple with her hand and went on:  
"You know, it could be my fault. I sent you to that all-girls school, not thinking about how a difficult stage adolescence is…"

Yuzu interrupted her. "Mum don't say that, it's not anyone's fault if…"

"You don't know it, Yuzuko. Youth is just… so confusing, I should have thought about that, as a parent."

"It's not that, mum! It's not that I like other girls… well I don't know…"  
Disturbing as it was, Matsuri's face popped in her mind.

_I was angry with her but that kiss did not displease me._

"I mean it's the first time I've ever… fallen for someone."

"You see? It's not your fault either, it's just normal to be curious and receptive about those things at this age… but it's complicated and puzzling, isn't it? Even in normal cases… nonetheless, you two are… it's just wrong, do you realize it?"

Finally Mei raised her head and spoke: "We're not sisters, Hakimori-san."

Yuzu's eyes went wide, up from Mei, down to her mother, in an expectant gaze.  
Mei had called her mother with her maiden name.

The woman let an angry shade stain her voice: "Yes-you-are Mei… and I married your father so I am called Aihara now, too."

"But it's true we're not sisters!" added Yuzu quickly. "…Not by blood at least" she said then, lowering her voice, seeing she was somehow hurting her mom.

Mrs. Aihara stood up and raised her voice: "**I don't care! **Yuzu, from now on you're sleeping in my room. And know that we're not finished with this, but right now I can barely look at your faces …"

_Not without seeing that again_… the woman stopped in her tracks and sighed heavily."I'm going to take a bath… I need to… clear my head. In the meantime you two… just… stay away from each other, will you?" Said Mrs. Aihara, pointing her shaking hands towards them and then heading away.

Mei took a deep breath and Yuzu sprang to her feet, sitting on the sofa, her arms circling Mei around the shoulders.

Mei leaned on her and hugged her. "We're in this together…" said Mei, caressing her hair.

"Whatever _this _is?" asked Yuzu on the verge of tears.

"Yes, whatever this is…" said Mei with a little squeeze and a smile.

"What are we going to do… will she divide us?"

Mei smiled "How!? She's not a bad person. Even if she's not my mom, I can still see that, she's just really upset. She surely discovered it in the worst way."

The silence that followed lasted an instant too long. Mei knew something was coming.

"Do you regret it?" Asked Yuzu woefully, without breaking the hug.

Mei pushed her lightly, to look at her, and stared at her eyes for a second.

_Did she?_

The fresh memory of the feelings their kisses caused, made Mei blush 'till her ears. "I …regret that she saw us… not …that I kissed you," came the unexpectedly stumbling reply from the usually cool girl, who fought to regain her confidence. "But if we'll talk to her again I think she'll be disposed to accept it … in some time… and maybe we should just behave in front of her?"

"Behave?"

"Well, for instance…" She distanced herself from Yuzu, letting the hug loosen. "No more of this… especially in front of her, or others. I bet she's worried sick about others knowing about us, so at least until she'll come to terms with us, '**cause she will come to terms with it, **our reputations need to be stainless."

Yuzu face broke into a smirk. "Guess we don't need an angrier mom, huh? And I bet she'll keep an eye on us as much as she can."

"Hmm-hmm…" nodded Mei closing on her for a quick peck on her cheek. "So let's be a little more discreet, ok, onee-san?"

Yuzu lost a heartbeat, thinking on how that afternoon Matsuri had called her "big-sis" just like that.

Mei didn't even wince while suddenly remembering the words that little brat said to Yuzu just before the kiss she witnessed.  
"you're my onee-chan alone" A jolt of jealousy clenched her stomach.

_It's not fair… so not fair, now that I need to be on her side._

Yuzu lowered her eyes and half-smiled: "Please don't call me that way… it's weird as hell right now." Mei laughed lightly and took her hand, thinking on how things between them could change in just the blink of an eye.

When Mrs. Aihara came back from her bath, Yuzu had already collected her belongings from the room she shared with Mei, to bring them to her mother's bedroom.

Mei lent a hand while the severe and reflective gaze of their parent surveyed their movements closely.

"What about going back to your grandparents for a while…" said the woman abruptly, to her legitimate daughter.

Yuzu and Mei both stilled, cold shivers going down their spines.

"Please mom… don't…" blabbered Yuzu, feeling tears prickling in her eyes, incapable of other reactions.

The two girls looked at each other, and then at their mother, who just stared at them with a defiant look on her face.

Yuzu felt shamefully powerless for the first time in her life. She looked at Mei pleading for help.

_What about us, what about the school, Harumi, Himeko and the others, the family I've come to know… Is mom really this cruel?_

Mei stepped forward. "It… It would really be a shame to transfer Yuzu after all the effort she put in improving herself… Do you remember the flashy, messy girl she was when you first came here? Look at her now… aren't you even the slightest proud of her?"

Mei looked at Yuzu and blushed, then continued "'Cause I am… She's really been committed toher scholastic career and you know what? Yesterday she got her best result on a really difficult test. She even did better than me… and we were going to get ready together for mid-term exams soon, would you really take her away now? Just because of what you saw?"

Yuzu felt a piercing pain in her palms, where she found she was clenching her fists too tight… She released them, and felt so grateful to her sis… no, not her sister anymore.

Mrs. Aihara inhaled and said: "What if I let my daughter in your care 'till then…"

Mei stared at her, puzzled, while the woman resumed what she was saying. "It may be true that you are not really my daughter… but I felt like your mother all the same since the beginning… I trust you to be intelligent and considerate. You _must_ know something is not right with this, as long as you two are legally sisters and minors under my roof."

Mei lowered her eyes and thought she was right, even if just from a parent's point of view.

Yuzu exhaled a breath and sat on the floor, feeling suddenly devoid of all energies.

Only heavens knew what was coming.

Mrs. Aihara spoke again. "So what about I put my complete trust in you Mei? Can you promise you two won't make a step further in this _thing _you have at least until your school term is over and until your father is back?"

Mei felt a jolt of panic and Mrs. Aihara noticed her eyes suddenly widened.

Yuzu felt angry with her mom for bringing that up. She knew her father was Mei's weakness and she was using it to make the issue even more complicated than it was to handle.

"We have to talk about this with him too, you realize that?"

Mei gulped her anxiety down and nodded. "Yes… but we'll do it together… I won't stand it for him to hear just one version of the story."

Mrs. Aihara tilted her head. "That's a deal, I won't tell him nothing until he's back home. But what about _my _condition, will you behave as just sisters from now on, until your mid-term exams?"

Yuzu felt again the fear of being separated from Mei and quickly stood up. "I promise…" She looked at Mei nodding at her and added "..We do."

They felt they had lost that fight…

But at least they were together…

And their mother had a job to go to from time to time.

The _day after_ at the Aihara's was not as bad as everyone expected it to be. Nor were the other next few days.  
There were things to do, school to attend, and jobs to go to.  
So, when the family reunited in the evenings, it was around the dinner table, and the atmosphere was almost comfortable.  
They had a rule to abide … and they were going to keep their promise.

…more or less…

During the day it was easy to forget the effort of not thinking too much about the kisses they shared, or not to stare too much at each other in class.  
There were lessons to follow, Harumi and her usual funny chats, student council representatives to direct… or to avoid, while hiding a revealing cleavage or a loose ribbon.  
So, with everyday issues and school life, they both were busy enough to keep their attention away from the fact they practically, and quite clamorously, had revealed their feelings to each other.  
… At least in daylight… Nights were another matter entirely.

Spreading her arms and legs on the sheets, Mei felt the painfully physical proof that she was now alone in the big king size bed. She was not the type to mull on things but the turmoil of _that_ day was still vivid in her mind. Mei had a tiny restless little fear in the pit of her stomach that **Everything** was going to go **monstrously** **wrong.**  
With Yuzu, with a pink haired brat who she wasn't able to get out of her mind, with her family, with school, with her father … but mostly with Yuzu.  
The feeling of Yuzu's lips on her own was _Per Se_ quite the challenge to shake away.  
But the thought of somebody else's lips on Yuzu's… that was agonizing. Even if she wouldn't admit it even under torture.  
Not to mention the extra dose of self control, both girls needed to keep around their mother; It was a constant restraint that stressed them out more than they could say.  
So, every night, hours of sleep were lost with heavy sighs and red-hot-eared memories, before she could find a usually slouching position to sleep.

Yuzu, for her part, **was** the type to mull. Being confined in her mother's room,  
tucked in her futon, she was recollecting, one by one, the times those days Mei had talked to her, or looked at her. With added flourishing details on how she could have replied, or what she could have done to have the chance to… _push her against a wall and kiss her eagerly_.

Realization hit her and face became steaming hot. She slapped herself.  
_Geez I have to control myself. S_he tried and reformulate.  
_To have the chance to...__ make her smile_.  
That was better… but the stone had been thrown, and lust was not something you could switch off just like that.

Tomorrow the study sessions were going to begin. Right after school they were going to spend more time together by studying for the tests to come. And they'll probably be really close because of the tutoring thing…

Yuzu blushed again and covered herself 'till her eyes. Then she sat up abruptly with a deep breath of resolution.  
_I need to see her, alone, now._

Yuzu stood up slowly to make the less noise she could and pushed the door open, turning the knob a millimeter at the time.  
When she was about to take a step in the corridor, light came up and a voice from her shoulders said: "You need the bathroom?"  
Yuzu froze. "Y-you startled me..! I didn't mean to wake you up mom… I just… need a glass of water." she stumbled, not turning around to show a paled face to her mother.  
A second too much of silence and then, "Ok Yuzu … I trust you," came the lapidary reaction. Then the woman tucked herself under the covers, turning the lights out.  
Yuzu sighed, dropping her shoulders. She didn't like lying to her mother, at all.

Mei's door was left ajar. Yuzu pushed it with just the fingertips, a brief creaking noise making her shiver. She stepped into the room while her brain was screaming G_o back!  
_But she didn't find it hard to suppress it. Mei was sleeping soundlessly on her side, hairs spread on the pillow, legs partially tangled in the blanket. Yuzu felt her heart skip a beat while approaching the bed and reaching out to touch her shoulder.  
"Mei…" she whispered, bending forward to speak into her ear.  
Mei turned herself and blinked, before focusing on the other girl's smiling face.

She drew back immediately "What are you doing here!?" She hissed while sitting up and reaching out with her arms, to stop Yuzu from kneeling on the edge of the bed. "You need to go back, immediately!"

Yuzu looked at the hands Mei had put on her shoulders.  
"I needed to see you… We didn't have many chances to be alone lately… so I came… to talk,"  
said the blonde, while her eyes betrayed her and went instinctively on Mei's naked legs.  
Mei smirked _Yeah… talk._  
Then she turned serious and distanced herself from the girl in front of her. She sat on the bed, knees drawn up to her, and wrapped the sheets around her shoulders. "Really Yuzu, you must go back. What if she finds out…"

Yuzu was staring at her, not making a move.

Mei continued her scolding. "What if she changes her mind and really sends you off to your grandparents!?" Mei was more and more worried as the time passed "Yuz…"  
The blonde cut her off. "Kiss me once and I'll go."  
Mei gawked a bit, then regained her composure. "I can't… truly… No, don't! " she said, retreating herself a little more, when Yuzu drew closer and put a hand on her naked knee.

"Will you stop me?" asked Yuzu closing on her, slowly letting her hand slide down to her inner thigh.

Mei was astound. _Was it her own voice that made that little whimper she just heard?  
E_ngulfed in a muffled cloud of shallow breaths and loud heartbeats pounding in her ears, Mei closed her eyes. She felt Yuzu's breath on her face, the light tickle of her eyelashes on the cheek, the tip of her nose brush lightly against her own.

Yuzu softly pressed her lips on hers. Leaning on her free arm, she hold still for a bit and nipped to Mei's lips, just once.

And that was all Mei needed, to know that just the memory, even of a steamy kiss like the one of days before, was not nearly compelling enough as actually kissing the one you… care for. *****

The brunette reached for Yuzu's face with her fingertips, keeping her close to her, not to interrupt the thing she was now doing with her bottom lip. Mei lowered her legs and and let Yuzu come closer.

Seeing she was not, definitely, protesting, Yuzu leaned on her and deepened the kiss, finding the taste of her, after a few days of absence, absolutely tantalizing. The blonde slid her hand on Mei's thigh, reaching her hip, brushing the hem of her panties she could intuit under her night blouse. She lifted it up a bit, grazing the nude skin of her side, then circling back to her spine. A moan escaped from her lips.

Mei felt goosebumps rising on her skin, a hot shiver, from where Yuzu had her fingers, right to her breasts.  
A strong, new tingle in her groin shook her.  
Wide eyed, she lowered her head to break the contact, and pressed her forehead on Yuzu's lips, breathing heavily.

"I think you should go now…"  
"I don't want to…" was the sincere reply  
_me neither _thought Mei. Feeling tears prickling in her eyes, she closed them.  
"…Look at me…" said then Yuzu pinching her chin.  
Mei exhaled but held her eyes closed. Seconds passed.  
"…If I look at you now it will all start again…" finished Mei with a cracked voice.

They stayed a bit like that, both starting to breath normally again. Then Yuzu drew away quickly and left a fast peck on her cheek.  
"Good night" said in a low tone, while slipping down from the bed and quickly leaving the room.

Mei opened her eyes when the door closed.  
Then she let herself tumble down onto her side, sinking her face in the pillow.

Mrs Aihara heard her daughter coming back tiptoeing "from the kitchen" and laying back in the futon. Hearing her sigh a few times, she lit up the lamp on the nightstand and asked: "Is everything all right?"  
Yuzu lift her face a bit to meet the calm gaze of her mother in the dim light.  
"Yes… I think."  
The woman slid an arm out of the blanket and reached out to her daughter's cheek, a sad look upon her face. "Do you understand why am I doing this?"  
"…You're worried for me?"  
Yuzu's mother smiled. "I'm worried sick… for both of you," she added sending a nonexistent strand of hairs behind her ear. "Try and understand how complicated this is for me."  
Yuzu kept silent for sometime.  
"Guess I can't… not being a parent, I mean."

Mrs. Aihara gulped down the sob that was forming down her throat.  
_I was picturing you, years from now, with my grandchildren in your arms._  
_But that's imposing my own dreams on you, isn't it?_

"I just can't afford to make mistakes now… I can't decide on this alone. And… if you value what you have, you two can't either… So let's try doing nothing we could regret and figure this thing out with everybody's help"  
Yuzu nodded with tears tingling in her eyes. She dried them with the sleeve of the pajama, then grabbed her mother's hand and kissed it lightly before turning on her side to sleep.

"G'night mom"

The lights went out, but for Mrs. Aihara sleep was far gone.

"Yuzu…?"

"Hm-hmm"

"Do you remember the Mizusawa's… the family who was living in front of us back in Ichinomiya?  
They're transferring here in town, you know? Hitomi, that's the name of the mother. She met me on my way to work… She seemed so happy to see me again, she was all chatty, she kind of told me the whole story of her family in these past years. They had it rough, you know, her and her daughter. They're looking for a fresh start here in Hinode. Though it must be hard with a single wage… You do remember the little girl, right? You used to play with her all the time because she was the only girl in a neighborhood of boys your age… Matsuri, wasn't she?"

Yuzu hadn't spoken. She was staring wide eyed at the darkness, not listening since the word "Mizusawa". She was likely to meet Matsuri again soon. And she needed to talk to Mei about her.

Meanwhile her mother had continued talking. "…Hitomi… So sweet and affectionate. It seemed to me all those years hadn't passed… So I decided to meet her again, tomorrow after work, to accompany her in the neighborhood. You know, to take a look at the area, I think she'd like it… and maybe I'll invite them for dinner, what do you think… hmm? .. Yuzu…?"

The girl was shocked. Not able to give a rational reason why her mother should not invite an old friend for dinner…

_Matsuri here for dinner… How would Mei react!? …_

…She remained silent.

"I guess you fell asleep, huh?" whispered Mrs. Aihara rolling back under the covers.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi everyone!  
Sorry for the wait but I totally forgot to update since I came back from my little trip... Sorry again but well, here it is my lil'fic chap 3, enjoy!**

* * *

The good morning greetings felt particularly awkward that day.

Mrs. Aihara yawned, stretching her arms. Then she stopped in her tracks and watched, as the girls met half way in the corridor. Mei and Yuzu glanced at each other, then they both lowered their eyes instinctively. They could tell just by one look, their thoughts were going back to a definite time and place. To lips meeting, breathtaking caresses and a regretted parting. They blushed distinctly, noticing they were being watched. Then, while Yuzu hurried to the kitchen, the other went back to her room, pretending to get something she had forgotten. Mrs. Aihara headed downstairs too, to have breakfast.  
Being the reason of her daughters unhappiness was burdening her, heavily. She sighed, then shook that feeling out. "Say Yuzuko... How much of what I said to you last night, did you actually hear?"

Yuzu remembered not having answered her, so she justified herself. "Sorry mom... I could have fallen asleep half the way, really," replied the girl. Actually, she had had quite the trouble to closing her eyes after that talk.  
"I told you our old neighbors were trying to move into the city... So what how about inviting Mrs. Mizusawa and her daughter at to dinner here, one of these evenings?"  
Yuzu couldn't do anything but go along with her. She felt her stomach quiver.  
"I think it's … a great Idea! I'd really... like to see Matsuri again... so, why not!?"  
Mrs. Aihara asked herself why her daughter was laughing hysterically.

When Mei showed up to grab something to eat, while hurrying to school, she found that Mrs. Aihara and Yuzu were chatting about someone. "Would you be friends again after all this time?" asked Mrs. Aihara. Yuzu seemed to stumble in her words, seeing Mei had arrived.  
"M-mom it's been three years... I don't know, I bet she's changed a lot... I think."  
Mei didn't stop to sit down. She turned to Yuzu. "I'll go ahead, don't bother rushing for me," said the brunette, grabbing a toast'n jam, and wishing a good day at work at Mrs. Aihara.  
Yuzu felt regret bite hard in her chest. She had to talk to her, at any cost.

Mrs. Aihara looked at how Yuzu's eyes were still fixed at the door Mei had just closed.  
Profound longing and… Love-sickness. Nothing but love pains could cloud a youngster's eyes in that shade.  
She laughed lightly. She realized she could recognize herself at her age in those eyes.

No matter to whom that love was directed to. She was just being a bigot, not thinking at all about Mei and Yuzuko's feelings. She took a breath and smiled, going to refill Yuzu's cup of fresh tea.  
"I bet she's super busy, with Mid-Terms coming and the cultural festival approaching..."  
"Yeah... and above all, she has to take care of the stupid-me too." said Yuzu.

Mrs. Aihara ruffled her daughter's hairs. "I bet she's doing it more than willingly... I bet she cares for you... dearly," then her voice cracked. Yuzu turned to the woman, springing to her feet when noticing her teary eyes, "Mom!"

Mrs. Aihara hugged her close and started sobbing. "I'm so... sorry Yuzuko... I was such an idiot."  
Yuzu held her, then realized herself was starting to cry too. "Mom... don't cry... it's all right."

Faded memories of her mother crying when she was little. She hid her face in her mother's chest, finding the same sweet smell of those days.

"I'm so sorry... will you two ever forgive me?"  
Yuzu cried for past pains and for recent ones. For not having been able to really talk with anyone about how she was feeling. For how no matter what, sometimes, the mask she had been loosening, still lingered on her face. _That damned stupid fear._ When sobs stopped and both had calmed down, Yuzu resumed.

"Mom, you know... I've already met Matsuri. We hung out at the arcade the other day..."  
Her mom sniffled a bit "Really? Is she still the pretty little pest she was?"  
"She's still pretty... but she's changed a lot... I guess all of us have."

I lived a life that was not mine, I donned a mask to hide who I was, for fear of not being accepted.

She needed to destroy it. She needed to talk with Mei and clarify everything. Tell her she didn't want to hide it anymore, that she loved her. She needed to talk with Matsuri to know what had changed her so much. She let the hug loosen and sniffed, with the weirdest wide smile on her face. "Mei is really doing her best... I even saw her preparing copies of exercises for tutoring me today. I better not make her efforts vain being late at school..." she said.

Then gave her mom a kiss on her cheek and headed out, grabbing her bag and still drying her tears with the uniform's sleeve.

Once at school Yuzu bumped in Harumi, who was chatting just behind the class door.  
"Ouch! ...Yuzu-chi! O-hayoo!" She greeted her, as always with a gleaming smile on her face.  
Yuzu took a look beyond her, at the classroom, glancing from one side to the other. "'Morning Harumin, 've you seen Mei around?" Harumi pouted from Yuzu's lack of consideration.

"She took some notebooks from under her desk and she headed out... I don't know where she is now."

Yuzu thanked her briefly and ran out, heading for the school council room.

When she reached it, she slowed her pace, panting a bit, and found Himeko was just now closing the door behind her. "Hime! Is Me-... The president in there?"  
Himeko gritted her teeth. "I've told you a thousand times... it's Momokino-san, for you!"  
Yuzu caught her breath and bowed shortly. "All right... Momokino-san, is the president in there?"  
Himeko looked at her while fixing a paper on to the outside of the door.

"Yes, she is... but we're all really busy right now... So I wouldn't bother her, If I were you."  
"What? Can't I talk with my sister?" Said Yuzu, tired by the run. Himeko just went back in the room, tapping her finger on the paper she just fixed at the door. "General reunion of all council members in foresight of cultural festival – do not disturb." Was what it said.

The bell rang and Yuzu swore through her teeth, while rushing back to her classroom.

Classes followed one another but Mei didn't give a hint of returning to the classroom. Every time the teacher left the room, Yuzu rushed out. Asking every student council representative she met, where Mei could have been. The answers where always the same, apart from the location. It could be "In the library" or "In the copy-room" or "In the teachers room" but the ending was always the same. "...But she's very busy, so don't go bother her." At the end of the lessons, Yuzu had lost hope of meeting Mei at school. She had even prolonged cleaning duty to see if staying a bit longer could give her a chance.

But she received a mail on her phone from Mei. "Terribly sorry – can't make it home to study together, see you at dinner" She huffed loudly, raising the attention of Harumin, who was waiting for her at the door.

"What's up Yuzu-chi... you've been weird all day." A concerned look on her face.  
Yuzu just sighed so long it hurt.  
Harumi took the hint. She grabbed a chair and sat in front of her desk.

This was going to be a long talk.

Yuzu started back before she moved to town. She told her how she used to lie about herself to her old so-called friends and everyone around her. Not to be scorned, not to bother her mother, or even not to question herself. Just to feel safe. So used to it, she became _the_ lie.

She told her how everything had changed since she had moved. The change of environment, when she met her now best friend... Harumi felt moved by it... and when finally she met Mei.

She told her everything about her. All the things she had left out for fear of being judged. All of her struggles with her and her new family. The situation at home, the new support from her mother, the mess with Matsuri.  
Harumin nodded, listened, cried and laughed with her at the end.

"I'm in a big tangled mess," concluded Yuzu, sniffing a bit.

"I knew she was up to something... That pretty little liar... You just have to put her back in her place, or find her a new one!" replied Harumi. Yuzu nodded.

"I'll see to it... So... I hope you're not going to leave me after this," said Yuzu, drying trails left from her tears. Harumin smirked "No way! I totally want to see the end of this! And by the way... I'm so jealous," said Harumin, pouting a bit.  
Yuzu couldn't make the connection with all the sad things she just told her. "..About what!?"

Harumin stood up from her chair to bear-hug her. "I want a Yuzu for me too," said the girl, squeezing her.

Yuzu laughed, squashed to her chest. "Haru... I'm not... breathing!" Harumi released her just enough to keep her hold on her and ruffle her hairs. Yuzu made a face. "...You and your big boobs will be the death of me."

They laughed aloud, then left together and headed home.

Once back, Yuzu found out Mei had left copies of the exercises assigned to her on the dining-room table. _She thought about me, even though she knew she'd have a hell of a day. _Yuzu tossed her bag on the sofa and started reading them right away.

Dinner time just passed and Yuzu was helping her mom clean the dishes.  
_She's not here yet. Should I call her?_ The instant she thought this to herself, the door clacked open. "Tadaima" came the feeble greeting.  
Yuzu rushed to the entrance and hugged Mei, who stiffened instantly.  
"Mei-chan, welcome back!" voiced their mother from the kitchen.  
Yuzu freed the brunette, who looked a bit surprised by the gesture.

"Welcome back, it's so late, are you hungry?" asked Yuzu happily, grabbing her bag to help her.  
Mei took off her shoes, still eying Yuzu a bit weirdly. She greeted Mrs. Aihara with a kiss on the cheek, while the woman still had her hands in the foamy dishes, then seated.  
Yuzu presented her one of her favorite dishes. A tonkatsu, that was been kept well warm.

Mei ate while chatting tiredly with Yuzu and her mom. About the facts of the hectic day she had and about the assignments of upcoming days. They were going to be really feverish days for Mei and the student council.

Then Mrs. Aihara started talking about her old friend. She met her that day after work... and was about to ask Yuzu something, when she noticed her daughter was smiling, staring at Mei.

Half way on her tonkatsu, the brunette - eyes almost closed - was slowly bending forward, then snapped back up. The fork held poorly in one hand.

Mrs. Aihara stood up and went to search for something in the kitchen cabinet.  
Yuzu slid the plate away from in front of Mei and touched her arm to shake her a bit. "Shouldn't you go to bed?" Mei didn't raise her eyes. "Hm-hmm" she hummed, standing up. Then she turned back and grabbed Yuzu's hand. "Wait... We need to check your exercises, where are they?"

Yuzu blushed, "Your room..." and kept her pace.

No rebuke seemed to come from her mother, but when they were about to take the stairs...  
_One thing __is__ giving them my support, quite another is letting a couple alone in their room._

"Ten minutes!" Said Mrs. Aihara "...Then I want you back in my room, Yuzu. Mei, goodnight!" Added the woman next, still giving her back to them.

I'll give you ten minutes... And I swear I wont think about what you'll do with it.

"G-night" replied Mei briefly.

The brunette looked around the bedroom, finding the papers on the little table they used to study on.

She knelt down and started browsing the pages, without a word. Yuzu sat at her side, watching her yawn a couple of times, during her revision.

"It's all right, I checked and I only made two mistakes in 25 questions, not bad, uh?"  
Mei made the smallest of smiles "...Not bad."

Then she stood up, made a single step and let herself fall face-up on the bed.

Yuzu watched her and felt uncertain on what to do. Should she leave?  
"Wouldn't it be better to take off the uniform?" she asked Mei.

"You'd like it..." came the malicious reply from the brunette, shading her eyes with her arm.

Then the room fell silent. Yuzu came closer to see if she was already asleep.

She climbed onto the bed, slowly, then she lay down beside her, facing her. She turned the main lights off, then turned on the night table lamp. She watched Mei as she removed her arm from her eyes and then turned to face her.

What will she think about that kiss... what will she say? It' surely is not the best period to give her something more to worry about.

"Mei... what about we eat together tomorrow?"

Mei hummed "hm-hmm" not adding anything else.  
Yuzu smiled "Hm-hmm yes, or hm-hmm no?"  
Mei didn't open her eyes and replied in a sleepy whispering voice.  
"After school... in my grandfather's office."  
Yuzu blushed a bit, "Just the two of us? ...'Cause I have to talk to you."

"Kasumi senpai told me you were looking f 'me..."

"Who?"  
"Megane-san you call h-?"

"Oh..." said Yuzu smiling, thinking she was starting to slur while falling asleep.

Mei had her eyes closed, her lips parted and a peaceful expression on her face.

It was nice to see this defenseless side of her, for once.

"So... that's what I'll do tomorrow morning. I'll make two onigiri for lunch break... and two bentos for our... afternoon-lunch. I could bring your revision material and ask Harumi to study with me until you're ready"

"-una'nmayo" Mei gibbered unintelligibly.

Yuzu tried to restrain her laughter. God, she was cute like that... "What?"

Mei tried and open her eyes "Tuna 'n mayo for me... please."  
_I'm as scared to confess I kissed another girl as I am impatient to tell her I love her. _

"Ok," she answered, then she gave herself a push to sit up and leave the bed.  
"Now, why don't you take off your clothes? I can see your face tomorrow morning if you find them wrinkled."

"Yes mom..." said Mei standing up lazily.  
Yuzu sighed heavily watching as Mei got free from her sweater in indolent, slow movements.

She shook herself, "Ok... Goodn-" _Goodnight_ she was about to say. But then she saw Mei's blouse was nearly off and her black hairs were falling on her bare shoulders. She couldn't help but stare.

Yuzu blinked, then closed the distance between them. She grabbed Mei by her arms.

The brunette voiced a "What...!" in surprise, but when Yuzu's lips grazed her skin she fell silent.

Mei flushed red and stilled completely. She closed her eyes. Yuzu hugged her, then took her time teasing her.

Smelling her, caressing her, from her shoulder up to her ear, with just the touch of her lips. Yuzu could feel heat radiating from her. Goosebumps rising. She held her closer, sinking her face in her dark hairs. Then she left a soft, wet kiss on her nape. Mei shivered and felt her legs go weak, then suddenly, Yuzu let her go.

"Goodnight" she whispered to her ear. Mei took a trembling breath, then turned herself to the door, just before Yuzu could close it. "Is... Is this payback... For yesterday?" She asked, a bit wheezy.  
Yuzu took an instant to stare at her. Her dazed expression, all hot and bothered, her now wide awake eyes. She smirked. Mei scowled and Yuzu retreated hurriedly.

She pulled the door close just before Mei's sweater could hit her in the face.

She was still grinning, when greeting her mother goodnight.

The next day was busy as hell for both of the Aihara girls. Lessons were already tougher to follow on approaching Mid-Terms exams. And Yuzu, as the day before, had to be super attentive in taking notes, knowing Mei would have studied on them. As yesterday, the work of the student council was uninterrupted. They had to organize the outdoor activities for the cultural festival and all of the club members were to be conciliated, recorded and assigned to a specific area in which they'd have to display.

So Mei didn't show up until lunch break, when she came to take her onigiri from Yuzu.

Harumi and Yuzu were chatting as usual, sitting in front of each other at the blonde's desk.

When Mei approached them, they didn't noticed her right away. So weary was her voice, which came out hoarsely when she tried to talk again, "Hello there..."

Harumi greeted Mei with a respectful "Hello miss president".

Yuzu turned to her a bit surprised. "Hi! What's with that voice?" Mei took a breath and answered slowly. "There was a scuffle between the dance club and the aikido club... on who should have the area in front of the entrance. They came to blows... I had to sedate it by shouting threats of expulsion."

"A scuffle? In this school!? Oh my..." said Harumi. Then she turned to Yuzu, "I see blowing the wind of change..." Yuzu, though, was noticing Mei's reddened eyes, being now shaded with dark circles.

This morning too she had woken up really early. Yuzu told Mei to take some rest, while there was lunch break. But while taking her snack for lunch Mei half voiced a "Hmm... got no time now. See you later," then left.

Yuzu bit at the tamagoyaki Harumi was offering her. Then asked, "Do you think she'll be energetic enough to listen to what I have to say?"

Harumi took a bite too, then replied. "I think, with the president, it's all or nothing... You just go on and say it. Then, whether to make it or break it, is up to her."

Yuzu breathed heavily, more worried then before. She was waiting anxiously for the end of the lessons. Harumi accepted to keep her company as she expected, while the others left the classroom.

Even more, Harumi offered to wait for her... In case things went bad.

Yuzu tried to act it out optimistically. "It's not like I'm going to die if she takes it badly..."  
Then sighed, dropped her shoulders, and the act too. "If she doesn't want to have anything to do with me anymore..."

Harumi put a hand on her shoulder. "No, you'll not die, for sure... but you'll need a shoulder... or two. And, hey! I'm going to be here if things go for the best too! And moreover... you need someone to cover your back with your mum."

"Mum! I forgot to call her, to tell her you're with us at dinner!"  
She took her phone and dialed... Mrs. Aihara replied hurriedly.

_Noises __in__ the background, she must be in her office, _thought Yuzu. "Mom, Hi! ...No, don't worry, everything is fine. I'm at school with Harumi..."

"Hello Mrs. Aihara!" shouted the other girl to the phone.  
"Yes... she's greeting you back... Say mom, is it a problem if Harumi stays with us at dinner?... No? Great! See you at 8 o'clock then, bye!" Yuzu swiftly closed the phone call.

"Wait Yu..." Mrs Aihara stopped, finding the call was already closed. She sighed briefly.

Well, Matsuri being at home for dinner tonight will be a surprise, then...

After some time studying with her friend,Yuzu watched the clock until it said it was 5.

_Mei should be ready by now._ She said a hurried "Later" to Harumi, leaving her in their classroom.

The girl had brought material to study too, to pass the time, but she soon realized her thoughts were going somewhere else. To someone else. "How masochist of me..." she whispered, sighing.

Then reopened the literature book at the same page since three times ago.

Yuzu knocked lightly on the massive door of the principal's office. No one replied.

When she pushed, though, it opened, and she crept in. Lights were out. She reached for the wall, groping her way to find and activate the switch. The instant lights went on, she heard a groan and a cry. "Turn it off... turn it off!" She obeyed. In the flash of the light, she had seen something moving on the couch. While she waited for her eyes to adjust again to the darkness, she said "Mei, is that you? You left your door open."

"Then lock it," came the hurried reply.

Yuzu complied. Then she slowly approached the little sofa that was in front of the gigantic desk.

Once Yuzu was beside the desk, she lit the little lamp on it.  
Mei was lying down with her sweater on her face. But seeing there was a dim light now in the room, she took it off. "Feeling sick?" asked the blonde.

"Just a gigantic headache."  
"Let me give you the Yuzu treatment."  
"Yeah... What would it be?"  
"Massage! I used to do it often when mom worked in a factory and came home tired everyday," she said. "I was really good!"  
Mei looked at her unsure. "With those little hands of yours?"  
Yuzu grinned and lifted her hands. "These little hands of mine can work miracles on you."  
A moment of silence...  
Mei burst out in a little laugh "That came out all wrong, didn't it..."  
Yuzu blushed, then backpedaled. "I - I didn't mean to make a gross joke like that... And girl, you should never have read that manga in the first place... It changed you!"  
Mei laughed again, but suddenly she showed a painful expression, and pressed her hands on her temples.  
Yuzu put herself behind Mei and started massaging her shoulders. "See... You're totally stiff... I bet if I pinch here you'll feel bet-"

"Ou-Ouch!... No, I'm not better!"

"Oh, come on, you non-believer, just you wait a bit..." Said Yuzu continuing her work on her shoulders, molding with her thumbs. When she trailed up to her nape, Mei felt something prickly run through her neck. Then the tension slowly eased on her muscles, her temples stopped pulsing. Yuzu asked "So, did your work pay off like you planned?"

Mei hummed then articulated her answer. "Yes... even if it was a labour having to do everything in two days... But now all of the student council and the club members have the weekend ahead and a week of total free time to study..."

Yuzu lift her brows in indulgence. _Of course... to study_.

Mei then remained silent for some time and Yuzu smiled, seeing she was relaxing. The blonde continued massaging in slow and now deeper gestures, until Mei took a deep breath. "Now I'm better..."  
Yuzu smiled at her from up behind her, not stopping. "So... Given you now are bursting with gratitude for me... Will you grant me a request for mercy?"  
Mei looked at her. "What?"  
Yuzu let her hands slid away from her shoulders and turned around the couch to sit beside her. Mei didn't seem bothered by the fact that her blouse was almost undone enough to show her bra.  
Though a bit distracted, Yuzu tried to start the "speech" she had prepared.  
"There is something... It has been bothering me terribly." But her mind seemed to stumble.

_Since__I told her that this has been bothering me, __does__ it mean I give too much importance to that surprise kiss?_

_In fact Matsuri attacked me, it's not like I kissed her back... But what if I __take it back__ and instead __**she**__ finds it a serious problem?_

Mei was looking at her with an expectant face...

After another second of silence she encouraged her. "You told me you wanted to speak to me... But I didn't know it was something bothering you... Whatever it is, you can tell me."  
Yuzu tried again collecting a semblance of a phrase, at the sound of her voice. "I ... I'm... "  
"Is it your studies? ...Or something happened with your mom?" Asked Mei.  
"No... It's more... personal than that."  
Mei gawked a bit. Realizing how stupid she could be, to not understand that she was clearly trying to talk about that girl... that kiss. She tried to seem confident.  
"It can't be that bad, can't it...?"  
"Yeah... No, I mean, It's not!" Yuzu blabbered.  
While keeping a straight face, Mei was internally starting to panic.

All the thoughts and memories that had twirled around that kiss those days, intertwined...

"_That's to make up for the interruption last time_

_You're my onee-Chan alone - What if someone saw us!?"_

_It's not like that was a big deal anyways... How many Times did I kiss Amemiya sensei!? But Amemiya didn't mean a thing to me! What if she's going to tell she's still seeing that girl... _

_Stop her, tell her you know. Tell her you don't care as long as she's staying with you._

Yuzu stumbled again. "I did something... I regret."  
Mei was squirming in her seat at that point. She was going paranoid.  
_Can't even see what she likes about you. Sooner or later she'll come to her senses and she'll know you for the worthless human being you are. She'll realize you were just an infatuation... It's just a matter of time, shut her up!_

When Yuzu was about to start talking again, Mei launched herself at her and hugged her tightly.

"I don't think I want to listen." She told her, with her face hidden in her neck.

Yuzu, wide eyed from surprise, fell silent for some seconds. Mei didn't loosen her hold. A weight in the pit of her stomach. Yuzu distanced her and looked at her eyes, afraid and now teary.  
"What's wrong?" said Yuzu turning to hug her again. Feeling Mei's chest was now raising and lowering in faint sobs and sighs, Yuzu kissed her on her head.

Mei sniffed and turned up to look at her. "I don't need explanations... You don't owe me a thing... I'm the one who's done so many regretful things... The one who's hurt you... so many times... I'm... I'm sorry." The brunette sniffed again, then said, "I don't even know why you've taken this much pity on me."  
Yuzu detached herself quite abruptly. "Pity? What makes you even think of that..."  
Mei lowered her eyes. Yuzu resumed what she was saying. "Pity for you? You're the best at school, beautiful and intelligent, I think you're great! I mean... Making it on your own, all those years, with all the hardships..."

Mei interrupted her, contradicting. "But I always had my grandpa watching over me..."  
Yuzu followed. "...And that's exactly my point..." she said, making Mei smile through tears.

Yuzu continued, "I just want to see you happy." Mei felt like crying even more.

You always made me stare in wonder at your kindness. I made you cry. You made me smile.

"You like lost causes..."

Yuzu smiled. "Let's say I like challenges... This makes you my worthy opponent," she concluded, trailing the course of a tear on Mei 's cheek. The brunette kept on staring at Yuzu, until the blonde's face flushed red. "What...?" asked Yuzu, laughing at her own embarrassment.  
Mei looked terribly conflicted. "How can it feel so tremendously frightening yet so hopeful, to cling to that tiny little possibility..." _you wish for..._  
Yuzu stared at her intent gaze. It was the first time Mei talked openly like that to her.

Then she smiled one of those open, stern smiles of hers. "Then, we're the same!"  
Mei was afraid. It could be the last time Yuzu would have smiled like that to her.

_Tell me you're going to stay with me.__  
__Tell me it was just a misunderstanding, that she's nothing to you._

But Mei couldn't ask of Yuzu more than she already had. She couldn't tell her that. She could just feel lucky enough to bathe in her light, until Yuzu decided otherwise. And it was not like she could tell her that either. Mei knelt beside Yuzu on the couch. It was the first time she yearned so much to touch her, but she was afraid to. _What if... That tiny little possibility... cracks in my hands. _

She slowly outstretched a hand and grazed her cheek. Yuzu was looking up at her in anticipation, gaping a bit. Mei closed the distance between them and rested her lips on hers. Soft and gentle, as the fall of a new born blossom. Yuzu felt again the rush of desire of the first time. She breathed in deep her scent, then reached for her, feeling a wave of heat and dizziness. Mei was in a dominant position but her attitude was nothing leading or possessive. Her loose ponytail was coming undone and strands of hairs were tickling Yuzu's face. It was Yuzu's turn to be revered and slowly caressed. Mei's hands went from Yuzu's cheeks to her neck. Just fingertips touching, as Mei was afraid to look too demanding, too arrogant. As she wanted to make Yuzu forget her past ways with her. The blonde turned towards her. She kicked off her shoes and sat with her legs on the sofa. Mei got closer. Yuzu, not resisting further, slid her hands up to her waist. Fingers sliding beneath the loose blouse, grazing her skin. Mei held her breath and closed her eyes the instant a shiver trailed up her spine. Yuzu detached herself a bit, to look at her. And this time Mei didn't avert her eyes, but she sustained her gaze. They kissed again, in slow and cautious movements.

It felt graceful, sweet, adoring. Yuzu had kept her hold on her sides and now she was starting to pull her towards her. Her mind was completely blank now. Mei slowly followed her lead. Not without stopping to look at her again, towering above her and kiss her deep and true, before sitting on her legs. The way they looked at each other, that moment, made their pulse race. The tension was tangible and there was something new in the way they stared into their eyes, straight, with less and less shyness. Yuzu held Mei's nape and she kept her eyes locked on hers for seconds.

_I love you._ Thought the blonde, without saying it. She was afraid that new born bond was so fragile, it could break with such heavy words. _How can it feel so beautiful yet frightening__?__ Why am I still so afraid__?_Angry with herself she breathed her tears away. The kiss they shared next, was nothing like the others. Yuzu tightened her hold on Mei. Wanting to crash herself against the brunette, her lips, chest, hips and all. Mei let herself be drawn and was with a brief moan of pleasure she welcomed the new roughness of Yuzu's hands and nails on her back.  
The fight that followed was both breathless and panting. While Mei was trying to hold Yuzu's face up, to suck and bite her lips; the other lowered her face on Mei's chest that was peering through her blouse.

Yuzu left a trail of wet kisses on Mei's cleavage, pulling her closer.

Mei felt the other girl arch against her, to reach her better. But that contact was painfully partial.

She thought way too much of her body was far from Yuzu. The brunette grabbed her from her waist and neck, gesturing for her to be pulled down, then, she let herself fall behind. Yuzu slid her legs from beneath and followed. They looked at each other in slight embarrassment. They kissed some more, feeling the new sensation of their body heat on their skin and their naked legs intertwining. Yuzu felt her thigh slide between Mei's parted legs. The brunette whimpered and moved her hips away, imperceptibly. Yuzu stilled and lifted herself a bit. They laid just beside each other. Yuzu found herself bound by her own arm, still wrapped behind Mei's back, now blocked by their own weight. She half smiled and Mei lifted herself a little to free her.

The moment Yuzu had both hands again, she trailed her fingers through Mei's hairs, then caressed her cheek and pinched her chin, kissing her light on her lips. Mei reached for her nape to lead her in a deeper, passionate kiss. This time were Yuzu's blonde strands that fell silky on Mei's face. The dim light of the lamp made them glow through. Mei looked at her when they parted to breathe and she found her flustered expression to be the most beautiful thing in the world. Yuzu's sweater slipped away like nothing, tossed away somewhere unnoticed. The blonde lowered her face again, this time to reach Mei's neck. There she began to graze at her skin in the most teasing and frustrating of ways. The brunette almost growled her name, moving towards her to make her deepen the kisses. But Yuzu retreated, just blindly following the line of her collar bone with her lips.

In the meanwhile, Mei's hands were trying to free Yuzu from her blouse. Yuzu felt the brunette was pushing her back, then she blushed bright in understanding. She finally sat up a while, to let Mei undo her ribbon and her buttons. She did it slowly, agonizingly slowly. Yuzu didn't know were to look. She gazed at her hands on her, her eyes, her lips. Mei lifted herself up a bit to free Yuzu from her garment. She kissed her, finally touching her bare shoulders. When she felt Mei's hands directly on her skin, Yuzu gasped. She also woke up from the slumber she seemed to have fallen into. The blonde shivered, when Mei followed with her fingertips the curve of her waist and sides. She exhaled and grabbed one of those hands to put it on her chest. Mei felt her heart was beating as fast as her own. She smiled to Yuzu, who went back to hug her.

Just holding her was still unbelievably beautiful. But soon she found she needed more than that.

From where she was, her scent was strong, a little sweaty, addicting.

She kissed her shoulder, her neck, trailing up to her ear in lazy little pecks that made Mei just electrified with anticipation. Yuzu was now nipping at Mei's lobe, when she realized the brunette had suddenly opened the hook of her bra. She stilled. Mei noticed, but said nothing. She just kept caressing her back, leisurely, at times grazing with her nails. She kissed her neck, her jaw.

Yuzu kissed again Mei's neck and collar bone, this time taking her time in tasting her, licking, and biting lightly.

When Yuzu was nipping again at her ear, she felt the brunette trying to muffle a moan on her shoulder. She hissed when Mei then sucked hard on a side of her throat. Yuzu breathed deeply and lifted a bit her head, to see Mei was waiting for her to turn and look back at her. The brunette smiled, kind of reassuringly. It felt sweet. Yuzu kissed her lightly. She enjoyed every millimeter in the slow path of Mei's fingers on her shoulders, to pull down the straps. Then she finally lifted her bust from hers, to give space for the other girl to pull the bra off completely. Mei was fixed on her for some seconds, then started to slowly trail the curves of her breasts. Yuzu closed her eyes, unable to resist the shivers that were now shaking her. A stronger quiver on her skin and Yuzu felt her nipples harden. Mei found herself biting her lip in expectation, then slowly put her hands on them. Yuzu's eyes flashed open, "haaahh" she looked down. Yuzu couldn't believe what her eyes were seeing. The overwhelming sensation of Mei's hands on her breast's skin was something she failed to describe.

Mei saw her lost expression and decided to lower the tension a bit. She playfully bit Yuzu's gaping lips, then reached for her ear, whispering "They're bigger then mine." When she went back to look at her, Mei had a little grin on her face. Yuzu smiled back and held her face in her hands. Then she kissed her lips, her chin, her cheeks.. her eyes.

For an instant Yuzu heard the cutest of giggles coming from Mei. She felt her heart skip a bit, then was invaded by something bittersweet in her chest. A yearning she could not say, but show.

And the pace changed again. Yuzu clashed against her, like trying to eat her whole. The touch of Mei's hands on her breasts was now a burning hot groping. Their kisses, a wet passionate mess. While they were sucking at each others' tongues, Yuzu thought it couldn't get better than that. But then Mei reached down and sucked at her nipple. A loud moan escaped from down her throat. She clenched her eyes. A rush of heat and a jolt of electricity, from her breast, to right between her legs. She **needed** to make Mei feel the same. She grabbed her arms, fiddled with the wristbands of her blouse and got them open. Mei was a little surprised on her resolution and stayed still, while the other removed her garment swiftly.

Yuzu hugged her, caressing her back. She delicately gathered her hairs on a shoulder, leaving wet, teeth grazing kisses on the curve of her neck. Mei reclined her head, now breathing heavily. Yuzu reached for it and undid the strap of her lacy bra, removing it, then watched. She stilled an instant, in wonder.

_Yes, they're smaller. But, for heavens' sake... "_You're gorgeous," she said to her. Mei blushed again deeply. Yuzu went back to kiss her and she stayed a second or two, watching her expression. Enjoying the feeling of their breasts touching, so soft and warm. Mei's eyes were now half closed, her long eyelashes trembling, superficially breathing. Mei let herself fall back, in a sudden exhaustion. Yuzu reached and kissed her hard and wrapped her hands a little rougher around her breasts. Mei hugged her tightly and panted in her open mouth. Yuzu felt like loosing her mind. She pinched a little at Mei's nipples and felt her back arch with a groan. Then Yuzu slid down on her, to kiss and lick her reddened mounds, while her hands went instinctively lower. Down to her skirt, grasping at her buttocks, pulling her against her. Yuzu passed her tongue on her areola, then sucked so hard she heard Mei cry out. She was about to say sorry but Mei's fingers sank in her hairs, to keep her close. She complied, giving the same treatment to the other breast. Mei wiggled "Gggod!" Yuzu lift her eyes, finding her head was thrown back. Smirking, she trailed her way back to her exposed throat and there she bit and sucked, again and again.

Mei looked at her after a while, and slid away from under her. She laid on her side, beside her. She kissed her sweetly while caressing Yuzu's slender waist, reaching then for her hip, visible from her half disheveled skirt. They looked at each other, smiled, noses touching. Mei reached for the button and undid it. Yuzu exhaled once; deeply; before holding the fabric, to help her pull down the zipper. Both of them seemed to stumble a bit, seeing where this was going. Though Mei pulled down the skirt, and Yuzu kicked it away all the same. Mei rested a hand on her hipbone. The heat of that simple gesture, warming all of her.  
Mei realized rationally, that panties now were the only obstacle to seeing Yuzu completely naked.  
They had seen each other at home, during baths. But that, slowly, consciously undressing, was totally different. Neither of them, now, knew how to approach the last mile of that journey.

They had kept a safe distance from _that_ 'till right now.  
They looked each other in the eyes, embarrassed.  
They kissed.  
Kissed again.  
And that was just stalling.

Yuzu exhaled, reddening from ear to ear, hugging her and holding her close.  
"...'m sorry." She said. Mei didn't really know what stopped her... A little fear?

"Don't be... I'm the same."

Yuzu kissed her shoulder... then she timidly asked. "You've never... done it?"

Yuzu felt her chin graze her hairs a few times. Mei had shook her head. "I thought... with the engagement and all..."

Mei clenched her teeth. "I found... ways... to keep him far from my virginity."

Yuzu held her closer, Mei resumed, "I had my very personal idea of purity back then."

Yuzu lifted her head and watched her stern face. _Back then. Like it was a long time ago, when it really was just weeks._ She wasn't sad, she wasn't repented, she didn't look angry.

Mei was still a deep mystery to her. Yuzu took a long breath. "Say... 'r you cold?" Mei shook her head. "'R you hungry?" She shook her head again.  
Yuzu snuggled back with her head under her chin. She rested her arm on Mei's back, legs lazily intertwined with hers. Her warmth, her heartbeat steadying. Yuzu took another deep long breath. Mei was right, it felt weird. _Beautiful yet a little painful_. They stayed some time like that, then they fell asleep.

When Mei woke up, the clock on the wall said seven o'clock.  
Mei reached out to see whose blouse was the one on the floor beside her.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi everyone! Here we are with chapter 4. As always I'll never be thankful enough to my Quality Checker, Angel0Wonder whom I arbitrarily chose as my senpai (deal with it ;] )**

**Hope you still like my fic even if it has some difference in characterization from the manga, but... Well, these are my liberties as a writer and I think I have to stick with my "before-reading-chapter-10" impressions.**  
**Hope you like it and bear with me for another little while, as right now I sent chapter 6 and 7 to QC for publishing on Tumblr.**

**I'm in your care!**

* * *

Harumi heard voices echoing from the deserted hallway.

She felt as if she was in one of those stupid horror movies for an instant.

Then she realized she had fallen asleep. Mei and Yuzu were talking calmly.

_It all went well, _she thought. When she saw Yuzu coming into the classroom, she knew it had went better than expected. She grinned and stood up. "Say, president... Have you finally found the way to make her wear her uniform properly?" Said Harumi, going to close the first buttons of Yuzu's blouse.

At the confused look Yuzu gave her, "Hickey," Harumi replied simply.

Mei and Yuzu blushed furiously. Harumi looked at them with a strange smile, "I'm glad..." she said, before returning to collect her belongings. "So... Haven't we a dinner to go to?" then she headed out.  
Mei held Yuzu in place, taking her hand. "How much does she know!?" She hissed.  
"I know where your mole is!" came Harumi's distant reply from the corridor.  
The blonde went wide eyed and looked at her feet, not even daring to reply. Mei tightened her hold on Yuzu's hand, scowling, then exhaled hard and dragged her to the exit.

On the way to the Aihara's house, after some time of awkward silence, the girls chatted a bit.

About how their studies were going and the fact that now, just a week separated them from midterms exams. After, they fell silent again. Harumi elbowed Yuzu, gesturing at Mei who had preceded them on their way. Her face asking "So..?" Yuzu blushed and didn't know how to reply at first. Harumi got close again and asked, in a whisper. "Did you... do it?" Yuzu blushed a steaming red 'till her ears.

"We... we... almost..." she whispered.

Harumi grinned at her. "Way to go!" she mouthed, signaling with her thumbs up.

Yuzu became serious after a while. "I still don't know a thing, though... I'm at a loss with her. But..."

Harumi watched her gaze soften and a smile creep on her face, while looking at the brunette ahead.  
"But you love her..." whispered Harumi.

"I..." Yuzu was about to reply but found out she had nearly bumped into Mei as she walked. "Oh... why did you stop so sudd-" She didn't even finish the phrase.

Matsuri was at their front door. And she was coming towards them.

Harumi turned to look at Yuzu. The blonde's face saying just one thing, s_hit...Shit.. SHIT!_

Yuzu was run over by the younger girl, who had come to greet her with a bear hug.

"Onee-chan, welcome home!"  
Matsuri had surpassed Mei without deigning her of a look.

Harumi was surprised to see such a dejected expression on the Brunette's face.

She didn't quite grasp the situation. Didn't they talk this through? Didn't they clarify everything?

Then why this chill between the little pink haired girl and Mei?

She didn't look angry, she didn't look jealous. She looked defeated.  
Without leaving Yuzu, Matsuri greeted Harumi too. "Taniguchi san, long time no see!"  
Harumi was confused and quite angry with Yuzu. _She must have left something out..._  
Yuzu finally freed herself with an effort. Then huffed an "Hi Matsuri..." while sadly looking at Mei, who had silently stepped inside the house. She sighed heavily and looked at Harumi who, instead, ignored her.  
Harumi greeted the little girl with a brief "Yo..." then followed the brunette inside.

"Onee-chan, I missed you," said Matsuri trying to get closer to Yuzu, resting her hands on her hips.

"Matsuri, please..." Yuzu pushed her, trying to get to the entrance gate and go inside.

Matsuri blocked her in her tracks. "I guess you didn't tell her about us yet, uh?"

Yuzu turned around, brows furrowed. "There's nothing to say about me and you..."

"You're mean... I told you I like you and you treat me like this? I think your Mei would like to know what we did together."

Yuzu froze. "We didn't... You wouldn't dare."  
Matsuri leaned forward and smiled a wickedly. Then she rested her arms on Yuzu's shoulders, held her close. "So, Onee-chan, will you be nice to me from now on?"  
Yuzu looked at her too close face and turned her eyes away. "Yeah..." she mumbled.

When Harumi entered in the hall, a woman beside Mrs. Aihara was warmly greeting Mei.

"This must be Mei... Haruka you were right, she really is a beauty... Hi Mei, I'm Mizusawa Hitomi, Matsuri's mother."

Mei bowed deeply as she was accustomed. Then said, "Yes, it's Aihara Mei. It's nice to meet you, Mizusawa-san."

The woman made a funny face at her friend, surprised at the formality of her greeting. Then bowed herself too. "Right, you are the "diligent one" uh? She calls you that, you know? While Yuzuko is the rascal." Mei blushed a little. The woman laughed briefly. "Sorry, I didn't mean to be disrespectful. Your mother told me about your achievements, you make her proud, so you should be proud too."

When Mei looked at Mrs. Aihara she saw she was lightly blushing too.

Harumi made them notice her entrance. "Hello everyone... While the 'rascal' is outside greeting her... friend... I'm Harumi, a classmate of Yuzu and Mei," said pointing to Matsuri's mother with a brief bow.

Then she greeted her host. "Aihara-san, thanks so much for inviting me. Me and the girls have studied together since the end of the lessons 'till now. I really need your cooking to regain my strength."

Mrs Aihara smiled. "Oh, don't flatter me... come, would you like something to drink, Harumi?"

"Oh, I'm not flattering. Yuzu always gives me a taste of your bentos and every time they're delicious!"

While Harumi was occupying the attention of the women Mei turned to the front door, just in time to see Yuzu and Matsuri coming inside the house hand in hand. Yuzu slipped her hand away from Matsuri immediately, but her face showed she knew Mei had seen.

Mei didn't show a thing, but her teeth were clenched hard.

Mrs. Mizusawa interrupted them. "Oh my god... Yuzuko!? You've grown so much! Look at you!"

Yuzu had a weird smile on her face. She made the hint of a bow. "Mizusawa san... it's really nice to see you after such a long time..."

But the woman went towards her. "Oh I'm done with formalities, come and hug me!" Yuzu obeyed with a wider smile. The woman squeezed her. "Look at how beautiful you are... all grown up!" Yuzu was happy the kind neighbor she knew hadn't changed at all. "So nice to see nothing has changed..." Harumi looked at Mei's expression, which was becoming harder with the flowing of time.

The dinner went on with idle chat. Compliments to the cook and the food to break the ice at first. Then Hitomi asked how the Aihara family came to be and how they fared. The conversation went on smoothly. With just a little exchange of looks, when Hitomi asked to the girls how they found the new situation, as sisters. Mrs Aihara came to their rescue, simply saying they had grown "pretty close".

Then, it was the turn of the Mizusawa's to be questioned. And everything seemed to be just fine, until Yuzu asked about Matsuri's father. Hitomi fell silent for a second and Matsuri squirmed a bit in her place. Then, seeing Yuzu's embarrassed expression, the mother talked.

"No... it's ok, it's just.. We divorced a year and a half ago..."

Yuzu said she was sorry, then Harumi shifted the topic on when Matsuri and Yuzu were neighbors.

The conversation reanimated and everybody was gleeful again. After some time Mrs. Mizusawa smiled and quickly stood up. "So, seeing everybody has eaten to the fullest, what do you say about leaving me and your mother to clean the table? While you girls go to my bag... Matsuri, please show them.. I've brought something you should see." Mei stood up. "Please, let us help our mother, you're the guest."

Hitomi smiled kindly to Mei. "Oh don't worry, let these two old hags enjoy their boring adult chats, hm?"

Mei nodded with the tiniest of smiles and followed the other girls, who had already said their thanks for the food and headed for the living room.

Yuzu went ahead of them. "I swear if there are lemon drops in her bag I'm gonna cry a river."

Matsuri ended her phrase, "Mom used to give them to onee-chan, when she came to visit."

Harumi made a sneer. 'C_ause you passed like ALL the time together when you where little. Yeah, we know.'_

"What a gracious child she is," said Mrs Mizusawa speaking about Mei. She had reached her old friend at the sink, to clean the plates. "Is she always this formal, though?"

"Oh, but she has loosened up a lot! You should have seen her when we met. She almost called me Mrs. mother, once... she grew up with her grandfather."  
"Who's he... a colonel or something?"

Mrs. Aihara laughed. "Not quite. Just a traditionalist upper class, you know... just a little stiff and grey." Mrs Mizusawa nodded, then started picking up the glasses.

After a few moments of silence, Mrs. Aihara asked, "Why didn't you tell me your husband had left?"

Hitomi answered right away. "Because... He didn't simply leave." The woman turned back to make sure her daughter was with the other girls in the living room.

"He was drinking and squandering our money on bets... since months before the divorce."

Mrs. Aihara left what she was doing. "I'm so sorry... I should have been by your side in that."

"Haruka, I couldn't tell you and bring up an old grieving... And by the way, since he lost himself to his addictions... Well, he stopped being the man I loved so long ago... I'm just sorry me and his daughter weren't enough for him to sober up and change." Mrs. Aihara put a hand on the woman's shoulder.

Hitomi continued talking, her voice cracking, on the verge of tears. "I'm just so angry with him still... he didn't even come to see her daughter after the signing... He disappeared. Matsuri is at that age when she's so edgy and difficult... I bet she's still angry with him too. He was a good father before... really..." Then she started crying. Mrs. Aihara hugged her and waited for her to calm down. Mrs. Mizusawa stopped after a bit. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't just blabber out everything that is bothering me..."

"Don't worry... we have to make up for the years we scarcely kept in contact."

Hitomi went back to the glasses and sniffed back her tears.

Mrs. Aihara took a long breath, then spoke. "Since we're at confessions... I've to tell someone this or I'll blow up..." Mrs. Mizusawa looked at her serious face.

Mrs. Aihara continued. "The girls... Mei and Yuzu, they love each other..."

Hitomi smiled, "Well, it's good, isn't it? Feeling like family after only a few months..."

Then she looked at her friend, who was shaking her head, with a grave expression. She muted.  
Mrs. Aihara resumed. "I mean... They're in love with each other."

Hitomi almost put her hand to her mouth. Then asked, "Are you sure? Ho-how can you be sure?"

Mrs. Aihara again started washing the same plate as 5 minutes ago. "One day I came home earlier then expected and I saw them kissing... really kissing."

Mrs. Mizusawa carefully put down the glass she was holding. "Did they see you? How did you react!?"

"Oh yes... I could see the terror in her eyes. I...? I was plainly awful. At first I was so shocked I couldn't even bring myself to look at them. Then I tried analyzing and I did worse. I blamed adolescence, confusion, hormones, everything! I came to threaten Yuzu with going back to her grandparents in Ichinomiya."

Mrs. Aihara took again a deep breath. "But then, the next days I started thinking back on how they were then and on how they are now. How they were growing closer every day that passed, how they looked at each other... Mostly Yuzu. She's physically incapable of lying or hiding her emotions. Mei, well, you saw her, she's more the reserved type... But I saw changing her too, she's kinder, she smiles a lot more..."  
"They really love each other," said Hitomi with an incredulous smile.  
"I think they do... I found myself asking how on earth I didn't realize it before."

Mrs. Mizusawa smiled. "Sometimes we are the closest person to them, sometimes the farthest..."

Mrs. Aihara sighed. "I told them we'd have to wait for Shou to come back from his work trip and then we'd have talked this thing through, together. We have to make a decision for their future, they just cannot keep being sisters."

Hitomi turned to her. "You know what this means, don't you?"

Mrs .Aihara took a deep breath and talked in an exhaling, painful tone. "It means divorce..."

Hitomi put a hand on her shoulder "You should tell them. I don't know if they realize it but if you wait for it to be a shock it will be tremendous on them, they'll feel guilty."

"I know... Yuzu would surely be dismayed... Not that I think she's stupid. She's smart and perceptive, I know... But I bet she's so overjoyed now, with her sweet eyes always set on Mei, she didn't even think about "a future" for them. Mei instead, she understood right away when I talked about the problems this thing would have brought up. She's just like her father sometimes. They're not the talking type and you never know what goes on in that head of theirs... But sometimes, you just know they know."

"What about her mother? Mei's I mean," asked Mrs. Mizusawa.  
"I know almost nothing. Shou never talked about her and I never asked."  
Hitomi dried her hands in a dishcloth, with a wicked smile on her face. "One thing is sure... She must have been quite the beauty. I mean, look at Mei. If I'd been a sixteen year old lesbian, I'd totally fall for her!"

Mrs. Aihara gawked and tossed her dishcloth right to her face. "Hi-Hitomi!"

The other started laughing and Mrs. Aihara soon followed. Mrs. Mizusawa still was laughing, when she asked, "Say... Haruka, can I ask you for a huuuuge favor?"

Mrs. Aihara calmed her laughter "Oh... Oh god, I missed you Hitomi... sure thing, tell me!"

The girls heard the women laughing from the kitchen. Yuzu and Matsuri exchanged a quirky smile and continued chatting animatedly. Mei and Harumi linked eyes and found out they had the same disgusted expression over that "private moment" they just witnessed.  
The "something you must see" Mizusawa-san was talking about, were pictures. Old pictures of both their families. When Yuzu was a grade schooler and Matsuri still a puffy kindergartener, or older, and newer ones. While Yuzu was seated between Harumi and Matsuri, Mei was a little apart, browsing on another little pack of photos where only Yuzu and her mom appeared.  
Matsuri suddenly laughed and exclaimed, "This is even older! But I know when it was taken."

Yuzu took the picture from her hands and tried hiding it. "There's no need to..."

But Harumi took it back from her and looked at it smiling. "What happened, you are covered in mud from head to toe!"

The photograph showed a crying 3-4 year old Matsuri. And a totally bedraggled Yuzu, clearly crying herself too, in her grade school uniform. Both of them where held by the hands of a younger Mrs. Mizusawa.

Matsuri told them the story behind the picture. "I was too young to remember, but my mother told me. I was playing in the park, right in front of my home. Mom was keeping an eye on me and, while I was piling mud to make a cake, a group of boys came out. They stormed in and shattered my cake, I started crying and mom was about to come and scold them. But Yuzu showed up and put herself between me and them. They threw mud at me but she stayed and shielded me. Mom got close but didn't intervene, seeing nobody was really endangered. After a while, seeing Yuzu was not moving, the boys got bored and ran away. Yuzu stayed and tried to make me calm by playing with me.

I asked her to eat my cake... She really did it and I stopped right away." Harumi started laughing. "Always the hero... Look at you! Did you really eat it? You're supposed to pretend to eat mud cake!"

Yuzu replied animatedly. "I was like... 6 years old! And she cried so loud I couldn't do anything else!"  
"Yeah, she really ate it! But then she made a face so disgusted I started crying again... And she started too, so, that's when mom came and took both of us home to clean and calm down."  
"So, you never were a good liar about food," said Mei, with a little smile, still browsing the pictures in her hands. Yuzu lift an embarrassed face at her but she noticed Mei had suddenly changed her expression, looking at one particular picture. "Yuzu... Is this your father?" exclaimed the brunette.

Yuzu sprang to her feet, while Harumi took her place, keeping Matsuri occupied, asking about this and that. Mei was astound. She kept the picture so that they could look at it together. She had recognized him right away, even if the picture was a little blurry. He had blonde hairs and the same, identical enthusiastic smile Yuzu had sometimes. Yuzu reached her. "It's him! Not that I remember his face but... I saw some other pictures. Though he didn't smile in those." Mei watched Yuzu closely. Her eyes were softening, her lower lip trembling slightly. "Don't cry..." she whispered. When Yuzu looked back at her, she was smiling and had blinked back her tears. They watched again the photo. A toddler Yuzu was sitting on her father's shoulders with a little bewildered expression. Mei huffed a brief laugh, "You're cute... And he was handsome... But I thought you dyed your hairs, you're blonde too! Where was he from?" asked Mei, strangely heated up.

"He was from Germany, mom met him at work... And yeah I do dye my hairs... I was blonde when I was little but growing up I was darkening more and more. Mom used to say I had his hairs, so I'd have liked to have it blonde still. When I was in junior high she gave me permission to do it."

Mei looked at her for an instant too long. She felt like blushing, so she turned her eyes away. "You have his eyes though... That didn't change." Said to Yuzu, looking back at her.

Yuzu gaped a bit, Mei was too close. The brunette talked again. "What about going again and visit him? You could put this on his grave, it's beautiful..."

Yuzu felt a rush of gratitude and sadness together.

She watched for a second in silence. _She's so beautiful._ "Yes... I'd like to." She smiled.

Matsuri dashed suddenly between them, "Oh, is it Hikari-san? Let me see! Wow... Yuzu you're so cute here!" Mei looked at her feet in a rush of dizziness. Being separated from Yuzu so abruptly had been a physical pain. Now she felt like a hole was opening in her stomach.

Yuzu; Harumi noticed her torn expression; seemed in the same situation.

After a while, Mrs. Mizusawa and Mrs. Aihara came to the living room too, calling everybody for tea. "Mom look at this," said Yuzu, when she saw her mother coming closer, handing her father's picture.

Mrs. Aihara gave a look at the other pictures the girls were holding, and then took the one Yuzu was giving her. The woman had teary eyes almost immediately. "I thought these were all lost in the moving.."

Mrs. Mizusawa stepped forward. "It's all my fault. I think they got mixed in my husband's car when we helped you move. We kept and forgot the box they were in, in our garage until I found it again the other day organizing my moving here."  
"They're beautiful..." Said Mrs. Aihara laughing and crying together. Yuzu looked at her, feeling a bitter sweet melancholy. Then she sat on the sofa, watching the other pictures with her. Matsuri, seated at the other side. Once again, she had captured her. She was leaning on Yuzu, with the excuse of looking at the pictures. Mei watched Matsuri laugh with her at their common memories and couldn't help but be happy about the serene and warm tone of Yuzu's voice. She sat down near Harumi. They watched the scene in front of their eyes. Harumi whispered "What a cute little picture..."

Mei didn't turn to look at her. "She's happy."

Harumi made a face. "Well, yes. I guess it's nice to catch up with the people from your childhood... For someone with a normal childhood," she added.

Mei looked at her sideways. "You know too much about me."

Harumi laughed lightly, then got more comfortable on the sofa.

"So... are you going to stay and watch this little witch, sweet-talking herself into her life?"

Mei turned to her with a dreadful face. "You _really_ know too much about me."

Harumi smiled sadly. "It's her fault... All she talks about is you." Added the girl, pointing at Yuzu.

Mei lowered her face. Her voice was just a whisper. "Maybe I'm not worthy of all that."

Harumi looked at her sad eyes. _Wait... Is she serious? _ She stood up abruptly. "Mrs. Aihara, may I be excused, I promised my sister I wouldn't be home too late."

Yuzu's mother nodded, saying it was a pity she was not staying for the tea. Harumi talked again. "Yuzu, Mrs. Mizusawa, Matsuri, goodnight!" Then, without leaving to the others time to reply, grabbed Mei's sleeve and made her stand up too. "Mei... Oh, thank you for seeing me out!"

She added with a smile, while the other girl looked at her a bit surprised and confused.

Mei was practically dragged away.

Once at the entrance, Harumi sent Mei to the wall and held her shoulders. "**What** was that?"  
Mei looked at her directly, with a blank face. Harumi went on, "Do you really believe it?"

Mei, again, didn't reply. Instead she took her arms away and turned her face from her.

Harumi had her jaw clenched. "You made love to her...and you felt like that?"  
Mei had the same vacuous face. "Sex is made for many reasons... Love is just one of them."

"Oh, don't act like the seasoned woman, now. She told me you didn't go all the way..." said Harumi with an angry look. Then she crossed her arms "...But I guess I would have done the same, if I wasn't sure of what I was feeling."

Mei snapped at her. "I was not talking about me!" Then she blushed and averted her eyes.

She resumed "It-it took me a lifetime but... now I'm sure of what I feel. I'm not sure of what **she** feels," her voice a little cracked.

Harumi looked at her. "You'll have to figure this out yourself. Don't take too long, though... Or you may have somebody else to watch out for," she added, looking determinately at Mei.  
The brunette stared at her for a second. "You like her?"  
Harumi averted her eyes for a while. "I...I care for her... I could have fallen for her since the beginning. If she wasn't so hopelessly in love with the stubborn little coward you are." Mei gaped, then shook her head. Harumi resumed what she was saying. "And surely I don't want to see her hurt because of a fraud like that," she said thumbing at her back, referring to Matsuri. "I don't really know what's going on there, but it's like she's plotting something or... I don't know, that she's doing this just for play. I don't like her... To be sincere I don't like you either but I like her even less."  
Mei smiled bitterly. "Well... Thanks for the frankness."  
She understood what Harumi was saying. One thing was carved in her memory. The look Matsuri shot to her, when she saw she was watching the two girls kissing. It was a challenging one.

Harumi interrupted her thoughts. " While this thing between you two is going on, I'm going to root for you. So, get a grip, and if you're not feeling worthy, well, be worthy!"

_'Cause she loves you and I have no chance._

Mei looked at her, suddenly uncertain. "But what should I do? She's so... Happy with her."

Harumi spread her arms incredulously. _Is she so easily swayed? _"Happy? Because she laughs a bit? We laugh together, a whole lot. But, the moment she's calm again, she's back to thinking of you! And you know how I know? 'Cause she has those dreamy eyes and long sighs and that distracted attitude of someone IN LOVE!"  
"She just worries for me too much..." was the plain reply Mei gave her.  
Harumi gawked at her passiveness. "I don't believe it... You're impossible, you know!? Well then **stop** worrying her and **start** making her happy too!" Mei gazed at her, then bit her lip, asking herself how and if she could do it. Harumi walked through the door. Mei managed to shout a "Thank you!" to her, before she was too far.

Harumi waved back without turning to look at her. She realized she was crying while walking at a fast pace. Once far from sight, she stopped in her tracks. Harumi sobbed a few times, sustaining herself with her hands on her knees. Watching her own tears falling on the asphalt, she laughed at her pitiful state. "Life's a bitch, uh?" she said. Then she stood up, wiped away her tears and headed home.

Mei closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She felt a bit like crying, but when she made her way back, her face didn't show it. She found everyone was reunited in the kitchen for the tea. Yuzu smiled at her, dropping a hint as to ask, "everything ok?"

Mei nodded and seated. Her cup of tea already served.  
Once they were all present, Mrs. Aihara said, "Hitomi asked me something, but I wanted to ask your permission, before answering." Meanwhile Mrs. Mizusawa joined her hands with a funny face, saying "...please, please, please..." in a low voice.

Mrs. Aihara went on. "Could Matsuri stay here with us, for some days?"

Yuzu went wide eyed, but immediately tried to restrain her shock. "I... I don't... K-know... I mean, it's mid terms week. Me and Mei have to study and..."

Matsuri was surprised herself but gleaming with enthusiasm. She interrupted her. "Oh yes, please! It's not that I need babysitting, you know? I wont be a nuisance. Please Mrs. Aihara..."

Yuzu looked at Mei, searching for help.

The brunette, who until now, had hidden an expression of paled shock behind her cup of tea,

now looked strangely resolute.

Yuzu couldn't believe her ears when she heard her say, "Why not? You could sleep with me. I've a free place beside me on the bed."

Mrs. Aihara looked at her weirdly. "How... nice of you, Mei. Sure it's ok?"

The brunette merely nodded again, then watched Yuzu's confused expression with a fake indifference. Mrs. Mizusawa shined with gratitude. "I'm so thankful! With this moving thing, it's a pain having to go back and forth after work, to organize things and arrange to find a new home. And trips for two people, it's a huge expense I'd like to avoid if possible. Matsuri, you wont be a nuisance. Because you'll have to study, a lot, like, all day long. Retrieving a missed period of studies is not a joke, even for a smart aleck like you."  
Mei and Yuzu watched Matsuri's face become contrite, while her mother talked.

_What was that? She's lost a scholastic period entirely?_

Instead of finding a witty reply at that, as the girls would have expected, Matsuri remained silent.

It was clear, her mother was the only person Matsuri feared to contradict.  
Mrs. Aihara eased the tension by bringing some sweets at the table. So between agreements and chats the evening came to an end at a late hour.

After Mrs. Mizusawa bid everybody goodnight; still bowing in thanks in the doorway; the girls went to arrange themselves for the night.  
Yuzu gave Matsuri one of her old pajamas and the girl greeted her goodnight while the blonde was looking dismayed. _Why __did__ Mei offered her room? _Mrs. Aihara noticed the worried face of her daughter and laughed. "Yuzu, she's 14!" Yuzu blushed a bit for the fact that her mom thought she was jealous... Well, she was. "A really 'persuasive' 14 year old," she whispered while her mother had headed to her room.

Mei entered her room, making space for Matsuri on her desk, full of papers and books.

"Make yourself comfortable, put your things here if you want."

The younger girl eyed the brunette, to see if there was any trace of annoyance on her face, finding none. Matsuri had gleamed in anticipation, in hearing Mei's proposal to sleep with her.

An unexpected move for the gracious, polite little sister.

Maybe there was more to her than met the eye, she thought. Maybe she could play a little with her too.

Mei felt herself under scrutiny and decided to fill the silence. "So... What about your studies. A period lost for... Expulsion?"

Matsuri put a weird proud grin on her face. "Exactly. I'll have to regain my credits at least in time for passing the finals."

Mei thought it must have been quite the mischief, to cause this much disciplinary punishment. "A full period credits. That will not be easy. Hope your bad deeds were at least worthy of the punishment."

For the briefest of instants Matsuri's face showed a longing sad expression, "They were..." Then she regained her bully tone. "But you know, it was just a school fool of prigs..."

Mei merely stared at her, her face saying "Go on..."

Matsuri laid down on the bed, hands beneath her head. "They found out I was... Let's say, comforting a girl, in the bathroom. A weird girl. She was sad because her boyfriend left her, but when I kissed her she didn't protest. I thought that it could be nice if we spent some quality time together. So we hid ourselves in the bathroom... But she moaned so loud we were found out."

Mei kept a straight face, with a single brow lifted. A skeptic look, asking herself how much of it, if not the entirety, she had invented. She thought of Harumi's words "A fraud".

Matsuri looked disappointed at Mei. Her audience wasn't responding as usual.

_Isn't she scandalized in the slightest?_ Then wore her arrogant grin again, patting the bed. "Say Mei-chan... this is certainly huge! What would two sisters do with such an alcove!" Matsuri said theatrically, laying down, spreading her hairs on the covers.

Mei sat on her side of the bed, starting to undress and ignoring Matsuri's words, at least in the facade.

_Did Yuzu tell her about us?_

The girl meanwhile, continued talking."Why should you sleep separately, having this king sized beauty?" _Well, Yuzu told her or not... she knows._ Mei replied turning partially towards her, "Why don't you just say it. I've no problem with that." She donned her night blouse.

Matsuri sat up, "That you and your sister screw each other?"

Even having foreseen it, this time Mei flinched, visibly. Matsuri had finally made a point.

Mei, though, tried to let it slide. _Well, __she__ said __it__ like this is really gross... but __it __is true._

So she just turned on her night-table lamp and went to the door to turn off the lights. She saw Matsuri's bag, left open on the desk beside her, with two cell phones flickering inside.

_Two cell phones? What for?_

One of them flashed in the purse, with a mail received signal. The sound of the noticing message echoed in the silent room. Mei thought, _M__ail at this time of the night, on a separate cellphone__?_

Matsuri noticed her gaze and stood up. A little too abruptly for Mei not to take a hint on it.

Matsuri came closer to Mei who leaned on the wall, still eying the bag. The pink haired girl stretched her arms in feigning indifference.

Mei smiled. _Y__ou're so blatant._

Matsuri started talking in her usual arrogant tone. "Just to know... Between you two, who had nasty thoughts about the other first?" she asked. "I bet it was Yuzu-chi. I mean you're..." she gestured trailing Mei's gorgeous figure, then resumed. "I bet you enjoyed playing with her. She's so cute when she's all flustered, she can't control her excitement, she's so readable!"

Mei looked at her, straight in the eye, angry, clenched jaw. _As you are readable now. Don't you dare even go there. _She could take her insults and anything disrespectful directed to her... But not to Yuzu.

"Are you sure you want to try me? Knowing I'm inches away from finding out something you clearly don't want me to know?"

Matsuri flinched, being read through, then dashed forward trying to grab her purse. But Mei threw a hand in it and grabbed the cell phone. She swiftly opened it, while Matsuri tried to reach for her hand to block her. "Stop it!" But the brunette was taller, so when Mei stretched her arm, putting the phone up above her head, Matsuri couldn't reach for it. "This is invasion of my privacy! You can't! If... if you look at it I'll tell your mom you **fuck** your sister!" shouted Matsuri trying to grasp her arm to reach for her cellphone.

Mei didn't deign her of a look, while trying and keeping her at bay with her other arm. "Mom already knows," she said plainly, while browsing quickly between the numerous new mails.

They where ALL MEN's messages. Matsuri weakened her fight. _Their mother knows!?_

Mei kept on scrolling through the text messages, until she stumbled on a picture that made her stomach twist a little. That kind of picture guys take in front of their web-cams... naked.

She laughed through her nose, bitterly. "I think **your** mother, though, would **love** to know you have guys masturbating on your phone," said Mei, turning the open picture towards her.

Matsuri tried a last jump, then let her go. "He... he is my boyfriend, you don't have ANY right to look at that!"

Mei grinned, "Your boy-friend? He looks 40!"

Matsuri was a little dazed that Mei wasn't even wincing while browsing those pictures.

_Isn't she shocked, or a little disgusted?_

"Who is this?" asked Mei seriously.

Matsuri sat on the bed. "Just... a guy."

Mei browsed a little more on her phone, and both in sent mail and in received, male or female, there was the same kind of pictures.

Mei finally closed the phone. "It was... anatomically clear enough it was a guy. But who is he?"

"...A client," said Matsuri, clenching her jaw and looking Mei straight in the eye.

Mei now had a grave expression on her face. _A client..._ "What do you do for them? Is it... just pictures?"

Matsuri noticed her worried tone. "Oh come on! It doesn't even have to be me! They don't even now I send them photographs I found on the web, and they pay me a lot!"

Mei had returned to the bed, near Matsuri. "This is still dangerous. You've never met them, have you? And you'll never meet them, right?"

The girl had an ashamed expression, and a blush on her face. "Just... just don't tell her... please."

Mei clenched the phone in her hand. "Will you stop this?"

Matsuri looked at her with pleading eyes. "I can't... this pays me a lot of things... and..."

Mei put the phone right under Matsuri's nose. "Will – you – stop this?"

The girl looked at her, then pouted. The fact made Mei smile a bit. It was the first time she made an expression that fit her age. Mei turned the phone off, then went back to her side of the bed and put it in her bedside table, in the locked drawer.

Matsuri sighed and quickly freed herself from her clothes. She wore Yuzu's Pj's and snuggled beneath the covers. Mei soon followed. The lamp was turned off and they spoke no more. But Mei still heard sheets ruffle and covers shift after a long time. She couldn't sleep either. She turned face up on the bed. Matsuri stilled, feeling her move. Mei gulped down the concern she felt and she took a deep breath.

"It's strange, isn't it? When you feel like having nothing else, the sensation this sick seduction gives you. Seeing them react to you that way, their faces, their expressions..."

Matsuri stayed still in her curled up position, listening. "You feel in control, don't you? Well, trust me. Soon you'll realize you're the one being controlled."

Matsuri had a knot in her throat, she tried gulping it down but it didn't move.

She felt like crying but she pushed it back. "Tsk... Like you know about it, Oujosama."

Mei sighed. "Believe what you want, but listen to me. Just stop that foolishness and try to understand what you really want to do." Then she turned her back on her.

Matsuri stayed still and silent for some time, then she spoke.

"What I want... You won't like it in the slightest." She smirked.

Mei laid down with her eyes wide open.

They both tried to sleep... tried.

* * *

**See you all soon I hope!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi everyone, here we are with chapter 5. Thank you so much for your kind feedback! ^_^ really, thinking I've been read from philippines or Brasil... WOW!**

**I just posted n. 6 onTumblr so you're quickly chasing up!**

**Just a quick reminder that yes, I know the characters (Mei especially) is a little OOC but I think ****(firstly given the context of this little thing being so different from the manga)** feelings are difficult things to handle and once they pop out it's almost impossible to put them back under control. Even for a maiden of steel like Mei or an evil brat like Matsuri.

**Hope you like it, soon more and better to come!**

* * *

Yuzu squirmed in her futon with a dreadful feeling. She had worried so much about the night Mei and Matsuri had to spend together that she had ended up dreaming about it.

And it had been a restless night. It all had started like a really corporeal reliving of the Headmaster-office-session (as Yuzu had come to call their steaming hot encounter at school, the day before) But then a certain pink haired girl intruded and Yuzu, at the end, was kicked out of the sofa. That last detail was painfully far too realistic. She woke up feet over the pillow and head at the bottom of her futon, all twisted in the bedding, still hearing the sound of moans and kisses in her ears.

She quickly stood up, tried to regain looking barely human and hurried to Mei's room.

The door was open but nobody was inside. She rushed back, down to the kitchen to find the two girls sat at the table, sitting in front of each other with their bowls of rice in hand.  
Matsuri had a scowl on her face.

"You could have at least tried not to pull the covers from me all the time."

Mei had dark circled eyes and the same irritated expression. "Well, I was cold 'cause you tossed and turned every damn minute..."  
Yuzu smiled, seeing the atmosphere between them was not friendly at all. She made them notice her entrance. "Good morning, did you enjoy the bed while poor me was confined in an uncomfortable futon?"

Mei and Matsuri both looked at her, scowling.

Yuzu lifted her hands, "Ok, it was just a... oh well, don't mind me." She concluded, seeing the girls were again exchanging menacing looks. Yuzu went to take her serving of rice and sat down, eying the weird picture she had in front of her.

I'd never thought I'd survive to see the two of them at the same table.

She ate and tried to relax a bit. Then exhaled, resting her bowl on the table.

"So... What are our plans for today?"  
Matsuri looked at her, munching on her last too big mouthful.

"Don't know. It's the week end, let's just relax."  
Yuzu looked revived and said, "Why don't we go back to the arcade? You still have to show me how to beat the Zombie Apocalypse game!"  
Matsuri was about to reply enthusiastically but Mei shot her a look. Before either of them could talk, she said, "What happened to 'We'll have to study hard for the exams'?"

Yuzu pouted. "But it's Saturday... Pleeeeease?"  
Mei looked disappointed. "You would trade studying to maintain your hard earned grade average, for just a zombie video game?"  
Matsuri and Yuzu replied at the same time.

"Sure!"

"Yes!"

Mei stood up and took their empty bowls to the kitchen. Yuzu saw she was annoyed, and she knew it wasn't just for the arcade thing. She went to lend a hand, while Matsuri watched them, feigning indifference.  
"Say..." said the blonde, while grouping their cups of tea in the sink. "What if you try and come with us? There's not only creepy zombie horror games. Some are adventurous and intriguing, without being stupid. I bet you never played!"  
Mei turned to look at her, a little conceited. "You'd win, I've never been interested in those things. I need to study if don't want to void all my efforts these months. And you should too."

Yuzu started cleaning the cups, while Mei washed bowls and dishes. The blonde had a sadder expression on her face when she turned to Mei again. "What if we study in the afternoon? It seems like such a nice morning, seeing we woke up early we could do... something together."  
Mei wanted to reply that she shouldn't bother herself for her sake, but she thought of Harumi's words the evening before. She blushed lightly and kept her hands in the foamy dishes, not to show she was clenching them a little in anxiety. "What about your past offer?"  
Yuzu looked like she didn't have a clue. "Uh?"  
Mei felt her eyebrow twitch, _Oh, come on, don't make me ask_. "The cooking lessons..."  
Yuzu gleamed, "Sure! We could go for groceries, and we could cook something, for lunch maybe?"

Mei looked at her sideways, timidly starting to ask, "Then... what would you like to cook?"

Yuzu was about to reply, when Matsuri entered the kitchen and suddenly hugged her from behind. "Nabe!" she shouted, brightly. The blonde tensed up, not daring to look at Mei.

The younger girl was on her toes, to lean on Yuzu and talk lively with her mouth near her ear. "Mom is coming for lunch today, your mother invited her yesterday. So, given we're all together again, why don't we do Nabe? Let's go together and shop to celebrate!"

Yuzu didn't move, she felt heat invade her face. _Damn, I'm blushing_.

Mei quietly let the foamy water wash away and cleaned the sink. She put the clean bowls and dishes to dry without a word, and left the kitchen in a hurry.

Yuzu called her but Mei didn't turn to look back. "Nabe's fine." was all she said.  
Matsuri didn't loosen the hold on Yuzu's waist, instead she got closer. Her lips grazed Yuzu's ear, the blonde felt really uneasy. Yes, she was vulnerable to that kind of attention, she knew it.

But the feeling of Mei's eyes trying to look everywhere but at her while Matsuri was holding her was making her stomach twitch. She put her hands on Matsuri's to get free from her hold.  
"Cou-could you stop this?"  
"What... this?" asked Matsuri, mischievously, biting her ear lightly.  
"Ssstop it!" Hissed Yuzu, retreating herself and blushing deeper.

She grit her teeth in self blame and went to look for Mei, to her room.

On her way she met her mother, already dressed to go out. But she didn't stop to listen to her.

The woman looked at her strangely, seeing her worried face, then shouted, "I'm going out! We'll be back at luch with Matsuri's mother."

"I know, bye!" was the brief reply she had from her daughter.  
_Well, excuse me_, thought the woman. Then she shook her head, huffing while she walked out. "Youth..."

"Mei, may I come in?" Some seconds of silence, some ruffling sounds and then the polite but cold reply. "Please do..."  
Yuzu entered to find Mei at the low table, a book in front of her.

The brunette didn't lift her eyes from the pages when Yuzu walked in.

"Oh... Aren't you coming?"

Mei again didn't look at her. "Why should I? Two people are more than sufficient to bring home groceries."  
"But..."  
"She offered to accompany you, didn't she?"  
"Bu-but you asked me!" Yuzu knelt down and looked at her, eyes finally meeting. "...And I want you to come. Please...?" A longing look on her face.

Mei couldn't sustain that look for long. _Damn those green eyes of yours_.  
Even if the pain still stung, she indulged her request. But with a condition.

"No excuses for the afternoon, ok? We'll study together."

Yuzu smiled at her, even if Mei was still all serious and grim looking.  
"Sure! I'll need your help for those maths exercises."  
Mei sighed from her nose, feebly smiling at her. She ripped a page from her notebook.

She wrote the word 'Nabe' as a title on it. "What we'll need is...?"  
Yuzu gladly grabbed her pen and wrote down all the ingredients.

Matsuri obviously didn't let them go alone to the grocery store. But the fact they were in public and that they had a dense list of things to look for and buy, kept them occupied enough not to think of the weird triangle that rotated around Yuzu.

Once home though, the blonde didn't know how to manage the chores they had to do. Mei was clearly expecting to have a little 'moment' with Yuzu. As to say, she was leaning on the wall, arms crossed, keeping afar from the other two, not to show she actually cared.

And she was obviously disturbed by the constant and cumbersome presence of Matsuri. Her brow twitched every time the pink haired girl made a stupid joke or laughed in her high pitched tone.

The younger girl quite evidently couldn't care less about cooking, but she showed all the enthusiasm in the world to stay as close as possible to Yuzu's side.

The blonde couldn't stay as close as she wanted to Mei, nor exclude Matsuri, who was gleaming in expectation. She tried showing Mei how to prepare the Dashi broth, but Matsuri asked her how to clean the mushrooms. She tried helping Mei with slicing the meat, but Matsuri interrupted her, demanding to have instructions on how to cube or cut the vegetables properly.

Mei noticed Yuzu was more and more nervous and embarrassed with her. So she didn't ask for her attention, not to worsen the situation. Matsuri, instead, was clinging onto Yuzu as always. With her constant wicked smile on her face. She shot sneers of defiance to the brunette every time Yuzu was distracted.

Mei scowled. _All that she needs to look like a 10 year old pest is to stick her tongue out._

Though as childish Matsuri's behavior could be, Mei felt herself falling farther and farther from the blonde until she noticed Yuzu's attention was completely absorbed by the continuous clumsy acts and funny antics of the younger girl.  
She left the kitchen silently, with a knot of regret growing in her stomach and tears of anger threatening to spill from her eyes. She closed her door a little too soundly and sat at her desk, then rested her head in her hands. She grunted in a rush of anger.

_Damn! I Can't believe I almost cried over such a stupid thing._

_Damn her and her little swarming hands! I'd smash her little grin with, with..._

She sighed in self pity.

..._And damn the stupid me who's not capable of keeping such a brat at bay._

_But how can I do it!? Should I just slap her back in her place?_  
_Weird as it may be, she's a worthy rival. If only Yuzu was less submissive to her... She's attracted to her. She's not even hiding it. All blushing and tense when she touches her._

Mei huffed hard and hid her face in her crossed arms.

_And I'm in no position to demand a thing from her. Is this her choice? Is she really choosing her?_

A little hidden part of her squirmed in pain inside her stomach.

_Putting me aside like that. Am I so little to her?_

_And am I really going to give in to that little minx?_

She stayed like that, reflecting.

Downstairs, Yuzu had by now finished lecturing Matsuri on the preparation of Nabe.

The pot was boiling slowly on the fire and all the ingredients were now spreading their delicious smells in the kitchen. The younger girl seemed quieter now that Mei was gone. Yuzu had felt a guilty weight fall on the pit of her stomach, realizing that Mei had left without her noticing.

_Oh my god, I'm the stupidest human being alive. I should just expose this game she's playing and... Aaaaah, Damn! But how can I tell Mei everything!? Not now, with Matsuri here behaving like this._

_She'd hate me more than she already does._

Matsuri got close to Yuzu again. Though, this time she knew she didn't have to take things too far. She had to play it smoother. She took her hand and donned a hurt expression. "Say, Yuzu-chi..." Yuzu immobilized instantly. Matsuri intertwined her fingers with hers. "Why are you so nervous with me... aren't we the best of friends, again?"

Yuzu didn't reciprocate her hold. Still looking in front of her, not meeting Matsuri's eyes, she spoke with a hurt voice. "Is this being friends for you?"

Matsuri smiled, sitting up onto the kitchen counter. "Yuzu... Yuzu-chi" she called sweetly, until finally Yuzu looked at her. Matsuri sustained her gaze and reached for her other hand, turning the blonde to face her. The pink haired girl now had a pleading expression. "Nee-chan, would you forgive me for being a little jealous?" Yuzu didn't reply and just averted her eyes. Matsuri pulled her closer and rested her head on her shoulder. "I really like you... But all you seem to think about is that little sister of yours. It hurts, you know?" Yuzu felt like crying all of a sudden.

_Geez, making me feel guilty too? How ruthless can you be..._

Matsuri felt one of Yuzu's tears fall on her cheek. She lifted her head, to see Yuzu trying to avert her crying face from her. She reached for her cheeks and turned her face to look into her eyes, really close. Yuzu could feel her breath on her face.

Matsuri talked, staring at her. "For you two it's impossible, can't you see it? Your mom has me here just to have someone watching you. And even your sister knows I'm the best choice. Why do you think she's letting me so close to you?"

Yuzu blinked in shock, spilling out tears that were blurring her sight.

_What if she's right!?_

But Matsuri was not done yet. "Wouldn't it be easier with me? I'll transfer near here really soon, we could see each other everyday... We have fun together, don't we? We could grow closer and closer..." Her fingertips slid down Yuzu's neck, caressing lightly. "Mei-chan will come to terms with it. She knows it would be the best for everyone. Even for your parents..." Her voice now just a whisper.

Yuzu reached for her hands, now wide eyed in shock.

_Coming to terms with it... sounds just like her._

_What if she's right? Is Mei letting me go? Is she really thinking about it?_

Yuzu tried to figure out what the girl just said.

_Does Mei still think this thing between us is wrong?_

_That we'd be best as sisters... Is that why she stopped yesterday!?_

Suddenly Matsuri's lips were on hers, a little forced, but still warm and soft.

Yuzu remained perfectly motionless, still dumbfounded and confused by the train of thoughts in her head. She waited for Matsuri to distance herself, and realized the younger girl had kept her eyes closed during the kiss. Yuzu, for her part, hadn't even blinked.

"I'm sorry..." she said glumly taking a step back. She ruffled Matsuri's hair, leaving the girl a little bemused, and left the kitchen. _I need to do something._

She headed to the stairs, her first instinct to go searching for Mei. But she stopped in her tracks.

_What should I do, talk to her now?_

Yuzu pictured herself confessing her kiss with Matsuri.

_'We kissed... twice, now'_

_Yeah... She'd shoot me dead with one of her terrifying looks and she'd never talk to me again._

_I'd have lost every chance to recover a semblance of a relationship with her._

_I need to think. First of all I need to figure out what I want to do._

She went back to the kitchen with the serenest face she could manage.

"We'll need Ponzu sauce, I forgot to take it... be careful the pot doesn't overflow, lower the flame a bit, I'll be back in a minute."

Matsuri jumped down from the kitchen counter, still looking confused.

While Yuzu was heading out she saw her mother and Mrs. Mizusawa coming back from one of their 'home-hunting' trips and they were both smiling. Yuzu greeted them gleefully along the way, saying she would join them as soon as possible.

On the way to the grocery store she made up her mind.

_What if really Mei thought that it could be best just being sisters..._

_What if Mei had tried to go along with her wishes and feelings but she found out she really couldn't?_

_Even if it hurt like hell, she surely couldn't force her will on her._

_And Matsuri, well... She was a handful for sure. But what if she was right?_

_With Mei, it had all started in the wrongest of ways. Maybe... just maybe, she could try looking at the both of them from a safer point of view. She should treat them as friends, both of them. And then see what could happen._

After all, she knew a lot more then just them was at stake.

When she came back she found everybody was sitting at the table.

They had lunch, enjoying the communal atmosphere the hot pot brought with her.

The girls though, the women noticed, were all a lot quieter than usual.

After lunch they had tea, all together in the living room. Mrs. Mizusawa told them about the little old house they found that day in town.

Crammed between two tall buildings, but traditionally styled, with the tiniest little garden on the front. It was weirdly set in a modern quarter but it seemed to be so almost abandoned that the old owner was willing to sell it at any cost. At the sole condition it wouldn't be sold to be razed and transformed into one of those office-packed buildings.

The old structure needed a lot of work, especially to fix it for the winter months. But Mrs. Mizusawa at that point already had her eyes on it. The day after, a trip was planned, to really see how much work was required. To prove if the purchase was worth the cost.

After a while the girls excused themselves. Mei politely invited the other two to her room.

Yuzu and Matsuri followed her, reluctantly. Once in Mei's room, they sat at the low table, getting comfortable on cushions. Matsuri, needless to say, was in the middle.

After some chatter to set notebooks and textbooks on the table; silence was total; apart from the scraping of pens on paper.

Yuzu was starting to get unnerved. Constantly checking on how the two girls behaved with each other or if they looked at each other. Waiting for a cat fight to start between them, maybe. Or for one of the frightening looks Mei could shoot, to strike her dead in an instant.

Or even for Matsuri to say something incredibly embarrassing again.

Instead, the situation seemed to stay peaceful for an hour and a half.

Yuzu eventually relaxed and enjoyed the tranquil atmosphere there was in the room.

_Ok... They're just friends. Just friends of mine, both of them._

_Wouldn't it be nice if things were always like this?_

But Matsuri started huffing and sighing, at a certain point. Giving Mei irritated looks, as if she was the culprit of that constriction. Mei felt her brow twitch every time the younger girl puffed in boredom, but restrained herself from asking for silence, not to give her satisfaction.

_Come on, I should be the mature one in here. Get a grip._

She took a deep breath, calmed her irritation, and asked. "Is there something we could help with?"

Matsuri looked at Mei's composed expression, noticing she hadn't managed to bother the brunette all that much. "It's just this Shakespeare, I had to chose a play and translate the synopsis. But It's so stupid!"

Mei felt her brows arch in stupor. "Huh!?" was her incredulous reply, then she recovered and tried to look understanding. "What's the problem...?"

Matsuri closed her notebook in irritation, and put it far from her. "It's those two... Romeo and Juliet, they're the stupidest couple I've ever read about!"

Mei went wide eyed again but listened curiously to the girl, who resumed.

"Why didn't they just run away together!? Instead of plotting that stupid plan and then killing each other in the end..." She pouted, "I hate couples who don't fight to be togeth..." Matsuri stopped talking like she shouldn't have said that.

Mei stared at her. _What was that just now?_

Then the brunette stood up, searching her personal book shelf. "Maybe tragic romance is just not your genre. If you'd like, you could borrow... Here it is, Macbeth! Ambition, revenge, madness... And lots of blood. There's a summary at the end of the book."

Matsuri looked at her with a little diffidence. "I just chose Romeo and Juliet casually. I hate romantic stories," said the pink haired girl, finally taking the little book from Mei's hand and giving it a look.

Mei sat down and looked at Yuzu, who had watched the scene in silence.

The blonde smiled at her. They didn't fight. She had just witnessed a little miracle.

Mei smiled back and resumed her reading.

After a while, Yuzu ticked with her pen on Mei's book to ask for her attention. "Oy, could you give this a look? It's the third time I try to solve this problem but the solution is never the same as the book." Mei noticed with the corner of her eye that Matsuri had lifted her eyes from her book, suddenly interested. The brunette took Yuzu's book from her, then she sat back a little closer to Matsuri, who seemed confused just for an instant.

The brunette fiddled a bit with the pen, while Matsuri eyed the book in front of her with an inquiring look. Mei started "It should be..."

Matsuri stretched her arm and pointed to a formula with her pencil. "Here..." just a sign and an y became an x, correcting the mistake in the text of the problem.  
Mei looked at her, surprised, then checked. She was right. But the girl was two years behind them, she shouldn't be able to solve those kind of problems. Let alone at a first look like that.

Mei asked, "What was that, a lucky guess?"

Matsuri had gone back to her Shakespeare and feigned indifference. "Maybe..."

Mei eyed the younger girl and gave Yuzu her book back.  
The blonde watched Mei with a curious expression and the other shrugged, going back to her History.

After quite the time on their respective subjects, Mei and Matsuri started to yawn alternatively. Yuzu laughed a little, noticing it. It must've been the lack of sleep that night.

She tried to push her luck. "What if we call it quits here?"

Matsuri seemed to revive instantly. She put down her book and stretched her arms. "Oh yes, please... Just, could we stay a little more? Mom is still downstairs, let's wait a bit to show her we're finished."

Yuzu winked and thumbed up.

Mei looked at them with a severe expression on her face, but put down her book too.

Matsuri made a little sneer and turned to Yuzu. "Oy, onee-chan, why don't you bring tea for everyone? I'm a little thirsty and Mei-chan could use some theine to wake up a bit, hm?"

Yuzu looked at Matsuri, smiling in surprise at her 'almost totally' generous idea.

"Sure! I'll go fetch it..."

Mei hadn't lifted her head up while the two spoke. She was less naive then Yuzu and she knew something was coming. After just some time Yuzu had walked out, Matsuri didn't disappoint her. "I thought you were more of the fighter type..."

Mei didn't reply. She had swore to herself not to answer to her provocations. Matsuri huffed a laugh through her nose. "Can't you see you're losing her? Will you just stay and watch?" a sneer on her face.

Mei was conflicted. Fight for what she wanted? She had never done it. It was something she believed she was not able to do. But she couldn't just let this slide. She tried to sound believable,

"I wont let you... have your way with her."  
Matsuri read her act. She laughed openly. "Bravo! ...But 'till now you've done very little to hinder me. Hope you find something or this will be the most boring conquest I've ever done."

Mei tried to keep her determined face but Matsuri knelt closer to her. She leaned on the table, looking at Mei who didn't reciprocate the look. Matsuri enjoyed every second of the panic that she saw growing on her face. She got even closer, her voice a whisper.

"Say... How many times did you recall that kiss in your mind?"

Mei shot her an enraged look and only the clacking open of the door held her from smacking Matsuri right on her face. She clenched her fists, white knuckled.

Yuzu was back from the kitchen with the tea. "Here we are..." she said, not noticing the furious expression Mei had showed for an instant.

Matsuri casually talked, picking up her pencil and reading from Mei's book.

"Must say it's an interesting play, this Macbeth. 'What thou wouldst highly, that wouldst thou holily. Wouldst not play false and yet wouldst wrongly win'. It sounds beautiful, doesn't it?"

Mei gulped down the knot she felt in her throat. She stood up and went to the door, eyes kept low. Yuzu followed her every movement, not understanding what or why she was doing it.

She held the tray with the cups while the brunette re-opened the door and held it open for them.

Mei spoke in a cold, toneless voice.

"I think I'll study a little more. Would you mind leaving me alone?"

Yuzu looked surprised for an instant but then left her cup of tea on the table,. "Ok..." she said ruefully. She walked out, letting Matsuri precede her.

Mei locked her bedroom door and sat on the bed. She stayed there for a while, with her head in her hands. She still felt the shiver of rage that almost brought her to smack Matsuri. She breathed deeply and tried to sort out what she was feeling.

_God, this is so different from just some time ago! This morning too, I had to recompose myself before opening my door to Yuzu. Why am I so different, so unable to shut things out and ignore everything!? I really almost hit her. I can't just put up a stone façade like I used to do..._

_But then what can I do? What am I able to do?_

She took her phone and dialed a number. "Hello... Taniguchi-san? Could I come over to your house? ...It will be just a minute, I... Have to talk to you."

On the staircase, just before Yuzu and Matsuri could be seen from the living room, Yuzu stopped and asked, "You didn't do anything, did you?"

Matsuri replied as if nothing was wrong. "As I told you... She's just coming to terms with it."

She made a step to carry on. Yuzu tried to not make the tray fall, while grabbing her by a shoulder. "Did she say that to you!?" a fearful look on her face.

Matsuri looked at her straight in the eye. "Yes."

Seeing, though, the inquiring expression Yuzu still showed, Matsuri smiled. "It's true! Do you want her exact words?" Matsuri put up a parody of the polite attitude Mei had, crossing her hands in front of her chest. " 'I was wrong, we really should be just sisters after all.' That's what she said, with a sad, oh so sad smile on her face... And... Well, I forgot to mention she knows we kissed."

Yuzu felt her heart loose a beat. She felt weak, emptied. Matsuri held the tea tray just before it could tumble down. Yuzu sat on a step, dazed, bewildered.

_She really was thinking about that... being sisters, it's all there is. And it hurts... burns as hell. How could I even imagine seeing her as a friend!?_

In that moment Mei left her room and ran swiftly down the stairs, not turning to look at them.  
The corner of her eye caught just a glimpse of the girls, sitting close, Matsuri holding Yuzu shoulders.

Harumi opened the door to a direful looking Aihara Mei. "So, little Miss is having issues?"  
Mei didn't lift her eyes. "I'm perfectly aware of being inappropriate, coming to you for advice in this matter, but..." Mei looked up and Harumi noticed she had cried, maybe right until she had rung her doorbell. "I need to talk to someone I trust would never do anything to hurt Yuzu."

Harumi stared at her, while Mei sustained her look, even with her flustered and bothered expression. She made space in the doorway. "Come in..."

Mei sat on a cushion set on the floor for her, while Harumi laid on her bed, facing her.

"What happened?"  
Mei felt like crying again and once more she felt angry with herself.

"Nothing... It's still all the same."  
"Are you so bothered by that 14 year old brat?"  
Mei looked at her hands. Then she spoke, anger printed on her face.

"It's like... She's all over her. When she's in the room, she grabs her attention, wanted or not.

When she's with her, she's all clingy and possessive. Sh-she touches her... continuously. And what is worse, Yuzu seems less and less bothered by that. I just don't know what to do."

Harumi sat on the floor, looking at Mei trying to sniff back her tears. "Look... I'm not saying she's doing it right, but... She's playing all her cards, she's giving all she's got. What did you do to make Yuzu notice you care?"  
Mei hugged her knees. She blinked and a tear fell down on her cheek. "I tried doing something together and... No, I'm really just letting her free."  
Harumi furrowed her brows. "Or letting her go. Is that what you want?"  
Mei lowered her eyes. "Maybe it's what she wants."  
"I didn't ask what you think is best. You told me you know what you feel for her... Well, let's hear it!"  
"I...don't think you should..."  
"Oh, don't worry for me, I'll bear the blow."  
Mei looked all around the room, like searching for words in there.  
"I really... Never put it in words. I... Want to, well I guess I just want to spend time with her... Be with her."

Harumi kept silent while Mei built up courage to say what she really felt. "It's hard to explain... Cou-Could you not stare at me like that?"  
Harumi smirked, "Figures... What will you do when the time comes to tell her?"  
Mei cleared her throat, "Right." She nodded. Then she took a breath and added,

"I... I want her to be with me. I want her to be mine."  
Harumi thought that was far enough for now. "So, do you picture yourself as a couple?"  
Mei clenched her teeth after a moment of stupor. "It's not like we'd have it easy..."  
Harumi nodded, "You'll have to keep it secret. No real dates, no holding hands in public, or at school for that matter. No, super NO, to kissing in public. And still you wouldn't have a place to be alone when you want..."  
Mei looked at her feet. "Yeah..."  
Harumi waited for her to lift her head up. "So, don't you think you gotta be at least sure of what you feel for each other before putting your parents' marriage at risk?"  
Mei hadn't really thought of that from that perspective.  
"It seems we're facing one problem after another..."  
"That's why it has to be worthy. But you know it is, don't you? Or you wouldn't have come here," was the stern reply Harumi gave her. Then she smiled briefly. It hurt... A lot more then she was showing. But she was so happy for Yuzu she could have cried. She shook herself then asked Mei,

"So, how do you plan on distracting our Yuzu-chi from that minx?"  
Mei huffed. "I really don't have any idea..." _I just don't want to be the bitch I was to her anymore_.  
Harumi asked again. "What are you willing to do to have her back?"

Mei clenched her fists. _Anything_, "Everything."

Harumi smiled wider. "...Come on!" she said to the brunette.  
Seconds later Mei was in front of a full size mirror in Harumi's sister's bedroom. The other girl was at her back, hands on her shoulders. "There's not really the need for this..."  
Harumi ignored her and looked at Mei's eyes reflected in the mirror.

"You see... There's one thing I've always envied you for. You are not the striking, flashy type. In fact you're quite austere and unapproachable when it comes to first impressions. That's why maybe she's underrated you... But then, you happen to lift your doe eyes a certain way, gracefully tie your hair for PE, or even just bite a pen distractingly while you read. And... Bam! Suddenly, all eyes are on you." Harumi looked at her directly, not letting her go. "You are involuntarily extraordinarily sexy, you know that?"

Mei felt awkwardly exposed and crossed her arms on her chest. "I don't really... And who're you referring to, about underrating?"

"The pinky brat of course! And by the way, about her? You should just do the last thing she's expecting from you. Be nice to her, no matter what she'll do, just don't give in to her provocations. You know what they say? 'Smile! That's the thing your enemies hate most.' Trust me, it works... She must have; really well hidden under that smirk of hers; a quality, a virtue... Use it!"

Mei looked doubtfully at her. _Well it didn't work so well 'till now though_. Harumi resumed "And about Yuzu. Have you ever thought of just... courting her?"

Mei looked at their reflection. Her face a mask of incredulity that made Harumi laugh for a second. Then she recovered and watched Mei shake her head.

"I can't do that. Really, I'm not fit for... sentimentalism."

Harumi looked angry for a second.

"Yeah, you're more the type to push people down and french them without a second thought." Harumi watched Mei lower her eyes, then she regained her playful tone.

"What's wrong in being a little romantic?"

"Then what if Yuzu notices my act? She could get even farther from me."  
Harumi smirked. "If you play your cards well, doing it nonchalantly... She'll be too occupied drooling over you to realize it's done on purpose."  
"Do you really think I should, what... seduce her? That I could..."

Mei still couldn't see that happening, but the idea started forming in her head.

Harumi held her by the shoulders and made her stand up again, in front of the mirror.

"There... Look at that pretty face of yours, though you hide it under that disciplined stiffness and that gray aura around you. You should... Play a bit more with your looks. It would make you look a lot more accessible. It's fine being a little disheveled sometimes."

Harumi pulled down Mei's wide neckline sweater, to show one of her shoulders, then said "And when it looks natural, that's when you're a temptation."

Mei instinctively went to pull the sweater up. Harumi pulled it back down and blocked her hands. "Look, you know what I'd want now, if I was your girlfriend?"

Mei looked at her smirk in the reflection and shook her head.

Harumi replied, "I'd die to kiss this porcelain shoulder of yours."

Mei blushed at Harumi's fixed, confident gaze and averted her eyes.

Harumi lifted her hands and walked away, laughing.

"Geez, never thought you'd be such a prude at heart! I won't do it, I swear! I promise you'll be still a maiden when I'll let you go..."

Mei looked at her sideways. Then, after what seemed a long time, she started laughing with her.

They let that liberating little laugh quiet down and Mei said, "It's just, it's so weird..."

She looked at Harumi, not really sure to say. "If... If I wanted, right now I could kiss you and 2 minutes from now we'd be on this bed, having sex."

Harumi laughed nervously, "Woo-Hey! Calm down, how do you know that!?"

Mei stood up and walked, feline, in her direction, looking her straight in the eyes. She reached for her arms and she talked with the face an inch from Harumi's. "Because I know..." Harumi could feel her breath on her lips. Mei's fingertips trailed up on Harumi's forearm, while she was whispering. "...That at least physically, you're not that uninterested in me?"

Mei's dark eyes didn't blink and Harumi gawked, paralyzed. "Yo-You made your point..."

she exhaled. Then recovered, while Mei went to sit back on the bed. She took a few seconds to think lucidly. She sat in front of her. "You know what? That thing you just did... It works, I won't say it doesn't, but... it's a little, how to say it, frightening?"

Mei looked confused. "Frightening?"

Harumi smiled at her. "Yeah, kind of. And at the same time I can feel you're scared too. That's why I wouldn't go all dominatrix with the blondie."

Mei thought back to that time she pushed Yuzu down on their bed and the first thing she did was hug her. Like she was comforting her. Maybe Harumi was right. That was just the only way she knew. "Do I really look that pitiful?" she asked, sliding on the floor and throwing back her head on the mattress.

Harumi looked at her for some instants in silence, then touched her feet with her own and smiled sweetly to Mei. "It's just with you it's always all or nothing. You either hate and ignore people or clash into them demanding them to catch you. Maybe you could try just getting close, a step at a time?" Mei looked at her like she was about to cry. Harumi smiled again. "And you need to drum into that thick head of yours, that you're very much loved... Once you feel it then you may learn to really reciprocate the feeling."

Mei had teary eyes, Harumi noticed. But when she talked again, she was almost smiling.

"Do you really think I can?" Harumi stood up and extended a hand out to Mei.

"Here... let's go on with this not-so-ugly-duckling slash sexiest-swan-of-the-pond transformation!" Mei smiled and let herself be helped up.

The evening passed by agonizingly slow and Yuzu felt like she was still in a bad disturbing dream. _Was it possible, being just sisters again? Would she be able to sustain Mei's look, Mei's presence, Mei's thought... Without wanting to hold her, kiss her, love her?_

_Was it possible to start from zero again, at that point?_

_If there was still somewhere to go... Because right now she was not certain of anything._

Mei came back home just before dinner. Yuzu lost several heartbeats when she heard the door open. The brunette didn't greet everybody 'tadaima' and she just answered

"Around... to a friend," when Yuzu's mother asked where she had been.

They didn't talk further, but Mei smiled at her so sadly it hurt, before going to put her coat in her wardrobe.

Matsuri saw how Yuzu was watching Mei walk up the stairs and grabbed her arm, right before she could move a step in following the brunette.

Yuzu turned to Matsuri with an expression the younger girl had never seen.

She was more then serious, she had a scowl on her face and a stony countenance.

When Yuzu pronounced her words in that lapidary tone, "let - me – go." Matsuri couldn't help but obey.

Yuzu flew on the stairs, two by two, and reached Mei's room in a hurry, stopping by the door to take a pair of deep breaths, before knocking. "Mei...?"

The brunette opened the door but remained partially hidden behind it. "...Hi."

Yuzu found out she couldn't bear to hold her look. She asked, eyes low, "Everything ok?"

Mei just mumbled affirmatively.

Yuzu tried, "May I come in?"

Mei stayed still and silent for an instant. "Hmm, better not..."

Yuzu blushed and nodded, "Oh, ok..." she said looking at her hands, then took another loooong breath. That was the moment of truth. She couldn't procrastinate any longer. Even if it meant their End.

"Matsuri told me you know... About the kiss." Her heart threatened to implode in her chest, and the silence Mei held, after she talked, didn't help at all. It was torture.

The brunette, though, spoke after a while, her voice trembling. "Yes..."

Yuzu felt her blood go to her feet. She was frightened, so frightened to lose her.

"She kissed me... twice. But I **didn't **kiss her, it was **nothing**, it was **meaningless**!" She replied, her chest burning.

Mei stayed hidden behind the door for another while. Then a little smile crept on the half face Yuzu could see. The brunette talked. "So... it's all right. After all, I'm a pro of meaningless kisses." Mei lowered her face.

Yuzu fiddled with her hands and rocked a bit on her feet. A smile forced his way on her face.

"Are you really all right with that?"

She was so happy words could not even nearly describe it. _Is she really meaning it...?_

Mei broke her train of thoughts. "Yuzu..."

The blonde lifted her face "Yes!?" and Mei spoke again. "Could we start all over again... Please?"

Yuzu felt like dying. "From being sisters!? Again?"

Mei hurried to explain, "**No**! **Not that!** I don't know where from... just, not from being sisters."

Yuzu felt her mouth form a wide grin, then she felt like she could jump and scream in joy, instead she stared at her and blabbered a "Ma-May I hug you?"

Mei went scarlet and closed the door instantly.

Yuzu remained astounded for a bit.

Then Mei's voice behind the door spoke in a whisper. "... It's better not to." And she was smiling.

Yuzu got close to the door and pressed her forehead on the wood. "Will I see you at dinner?" Her heart didn't seem to be slowing down. "There's Tsukune tonight."

Mei was leaning on the door too. Happy as ever, and frightened, and happy again.

"I'll be down in a minute..." her voice muffled by the door. She felt like both crying and laughing.

Yuzu lifted her head. "I'll wait for you."

Mei had to press a hand on her mouth to muffle her sudden sob.

_You want to hug me? I want to hold you, kiss you and make love to you. So much! So bad it hurts._

She gulped down her tears and sat on the floor, trying to breath again normally.

Yuzu couldn't help her smile to widen even more, while she walked slowly down the stairs again. When she saw her mother, looking at her, wearing a proud smile on her face, she ran to hug her.

A grin so wide on Yuzu, her mother couldn't help but think Mei was responsible for it.

She huffed because of the tight hold her daughter had on her. "Uff! Has something good happened?"  
Yuzu nodded, not loosening her hug. "I love her..."  
Her mother hugged her without talking, another while more, then laughed through her nose.

"Did you tell her?"  
Yuzu looked at her in the eyes. "...Not yet."

The woman kissed her forehead and hugged her daughter tight. "Don't wait too long... Ok?"

Yuzu nodded again. _There will be time. If she's willing to try, we'll have all the time._

Matsuri watched the scene from afar. Her mother was telling her something about her new tatami paved room but she wasn't listening. Matsuri looked at the light in Yuzu's smile and she knew something had happened. And that event had crushed the tiny possibility for something to be born between her and Yuzu. She felt both happy for her, sad for herself and terribly jealous. _But what was I expecting..._

She clenched her teeth. "Isn't it nice when you win your fight and get to be with the one you love?" she mumbled. Mrs. Mizusawa stopped talking. Realizing her daughter wasn't hearing a single word since a while ago. She saw what her eyes were looking at, and thought that her daughter could have had her heart broken for the second time in her young life.

Matsuri didn't quite grasp how her mother had understood but the instant she felt like crying the woman had already grabbed her hand and dragged her out of sight.

When they stopped, her mother hugged her tightly. "I'm sorry Matsuri... One can try their best but you cannot force your feelings onto someone."

Matsuri lifted her face to look at her severe expression.

_Has she read so well through me?_

Her mother's features softened and her hug didn't loose strength or affection. "Your turn will come. You have all the time in the world... Trust me. Even if there's no rule to follow, in love. And nothing can really guarantee the outcome... There's only one advice I can give you and it's to be as true as possible to yourself. That's the only thing that matters. The only thing that can save you from regretting things like this."

Matsuri sank her face in her mother's bosom, crying soundly now. "But I thought..." she began.

But her mother interrupted her.

She held her close and her voice again had a tranquil but reprimanding tone. "There's no 'but'. There's no 'if'. It's just the way it is. And the sooner you'll realize it, the sooner you'll stop hurting yourself. It will pass... Now it may seem impossible but it will. And Matsuri... I know anger is an emotion as good as any other when you try to pull yourself out from pain. But in the long run you can't hope it will solve your problems. Instead it will corrupt you, make you loose yourself in a grudge. I know your mother is a nosy old hag and we didn't have the chance to really talk before, but... Please Matsuri, could you try and just be yourself again? Try to be happy again?"

Matsuri waited for her tears to stop falling, while her brain was trying to digest everything her mother said. She lifted her face. "It's... a lot of data to process."

The woman passed her fingers through her daughter's hair, laughing. "You little evil genius... There will be time for this too."  
Matsuri smiled and held the woman closer, realizing for the first time, her mother never had stopped to watch her from afar. And that distance didn't mean she had stopped caring, instead she had suffered for her, with her, while she was making a one mistake after another.

She knew her mother was trustworthy and she loved her so very much, she didn't doubt a single word she had said to her. "I'm so sorry..." she said, feeling like crying again.

Her mother didn't break the hug but put a hand on her head, making her lift her face up. "It's not to me you should apologize to..."

Matsuri clenched her teeth and looked down. "I know."

When everyone was called for dinner, faces had been washed clean with cold water and trails of tears were no longer visible on each of the girls' cheeks.  
Mrs. Aihara and Mrs. Mizusawa tried to keep the conversation lively.

Sometimes they saw the eyes of the girls were wandering, staring at each other... or into nothing.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello everyone! Welcome to my endless fic...**

**No, really, We're at a good point... A sweet one. The best though is yet to come ;] Trust me and follow me in this story! I'm in your merciful hands, let me know what you think of this!**

* * *

That night, having to go to sleep beside Matsuri was going to be quite awkward. Mei felt the eyes of the younger girl on herself... on both of them really; all dinner round. She didn't look angry, and anyway Mei wouldn't have felt menaced by it now. But she could feel her unnerving presence and it felt uncomfortable. After the little half clarification she had with Yuzu, Matsuri had changed attitude, totally. Did she finally understand how things were between them? Did she give up on Yuzu, truly? She needed to know.

Yuzu too was in trouble. She had to keep her eyes fixed on her plate. Every time she lifted them, she met Mei's and it was like being left breathless by a punch. Yuzu could hear her voice over the others, see her move in the corner of her eyes. And when she looked at her she felt her heart jump to her throat and she was unable to speak a word.

After that sudden happiness; that simple second chance Mei gave her; Yuzu was in agony.

She needed to feel her, touch her... _maybe just her hand_.  
She just wanted to really feel her presence beside her. To be sure she wasn't going to go far away again. She kept fidgeting on her chair, then finally asked to be excused from the table, for fear of embarrassing herself, or worse, Mei.

The brunette looked worriedly after her. But she didn't move. Yuzu's mother had rested a hand on hers, with a serene smile. The woman was probably imagining what could pass through Yuzu's head, after what had happened. The adults chatted a bit between themselves when they noticed that general conversation started, but died right away when they tried to involve the girls. Both Mei and Matsuri were thinking on what was passing through each other's mind and occupied in figuring out what consequences would such a hectic twenty-four hours have.

Matsuri for her part was still dumbfounded by her own behavior that evening.

Her mother thought she was in love with Yuzu, but the thing with her onee-chan had started as a game, no, more of a challenge with herself. She never planned on being really involved.

And she didn't think she was. At least not 'till the point her mother believed.

One thing she was right with, though. That time she had chosen someone she shouldn't have hurt. That game just went too far and had ended up hurting herself too.

It was just her anger that had started everything, she knew it too well.

But then why that kiss that evening?  
Why had she felt so warmed by it? And after Yuzu left her, so sad, so lonely...

Why that urge of crying her eyes out when her mother hugged her?  
And moreover, why that weird relief? Yes, that was the strangest part of all. The exposing of her game, her lies. Even knowing her secret job was found out... It gave her the weirdest of feelings. Peace. And now longing. Because in her mind; creeping out from where it was kept well hidden; was the one true reason Matsuri had stopped smiling at heart.  
A girl's face. _Kari, _she thought.

Mei noticed Matsuri's expression had saddened all of a sudden. And Matsuri too, after just a while, asked to be excused, heading upstairs to Mei's room. The brunette followed the scene with her eyes. A part of her was afraid Matsuri'd try to sneak in Mrs. Aihara's room, to Yuzu.

But the girl turned right after the stairs, to their shared bedroom.  
She let her chopsticks on her still half full rice bowl, thanked for the food and bid Yuzu's and Matsuri's mother goodnight. The women looked at each other with a shared sigh.

"We're not of any help at all, are we?" asked Mrs. Aihara.  
"Hm-hm," agreed Mrs. Mizusawa, "but right now there's not a lot we can do."

When Mei entered her room, Matsuri was standing near her desk. Mei was unsure on what to do. The girl surely didn't seem defiant like that afternoon. No spite exhaled from her, no maliciousness. She didn't give off that overbearing vibe like that morning.

Something must have happened.  
_Yuzu had happened._  
Mei knew they needed to talk, but she didn't feel like starting a conversation and she didn't want to look patronizing either.  
It was not that she hated her... Even if that was true she could have used some slapping, but no, she didn't hate her. She had behaved awfully with Yuzu and for that, she was really angry.

Somehow, though, she could see herself in her. She had ended up hurting everyone around her, wanting it or not. And no one could understand it or empathize with that like Mei.

Mei made her way to her side of the bed, opened her locked drawer and drew out Matsuri's phone. She set it on the desk beside the girl, and waited.

Matsuri raised her head after a while and talked to her. "Aren't you going to keep it?"  
Mei crossed her arms. "What for...?"  
Matsuri looked at her, then sideways. "Don't know... as a threat maybe?"  
Mei scowled. "I'm not that low..."  
Matsuri watched her direct gaze and took the phone from the desk. She took away the memory card, went to throw it from the window and handed the empty phone to Mei.  
"At least you could keep this... Yours is so old fashioned."  
Mei smirked, thinking that was a pretty catty way to ease things between them.  
But she took the phone anyway. "Well, thank you..."  
Matsuri watched as Mei got ready for sleep, turning on her night lamp and undressing.

Matsuri went to turn the main lights out. Her voice sounded rather confident in the faint light.

"Do you remember what I told you about my period of expulsion?"  
Mei didn't smile in relief at hearing the girl actually wanted to talk, but just listened.

It was not like she particularly cared for her well being, but easing the tense atmosphere that hovered in that house could really help. Matsuri walked back to the bed.  
"Something was true. I was found kissing a girl, but that's not what I was expelled for."  
Mei turned towards her, even if she couldn't see her face well.  
Matsuri started her tale. "If Yuzu was my friend at home, Kari was my best friend in school. We always were in the same class, since elementary years. So we were seeing each other everyday. You know the person who's just... always there for you? She was that for me."  
Matsuri sat on the mattress and followed Mei under the covers. The lamp was turned off.  
The younger girl thought not seeing her listening was of huge help.  
"I don't know when I started liking her. But this year, when her stupid boyfriend dumped her, she came crying to me." A long pause. "I hugged her tight for the first time and I knew she was no longer just a friend for me. I kissed her tears... And she didn't push me away, so I kissed her."  
Another long pause and Mei heard something was starting to crack in Matsuri's voice when she resumed. "She was so embarrassed... All red in the face, she was trembling. I was afraid I would have lost her for good, she didn't move or talk for such a long time! But then she kissed me back. Just a peck... I was so happy I could have cried," her voice broke.

Then Matsuri gulped and sniffed back her tears.  
"Anyway, the _thing _between uswas going on for a month or so. We hadn't done much more then kissing still, but... That day she was so _sexy_ in her tiny PE uniform. I couldn't stand it. I dragged her into one of the dressing rooms of the gym. I kissed her hard and touched her and she cried out," Matsuri chuckled a little "...Really loud."  
Mei thought to herself in embarrassment that a 14 year old was already this much ahead of her. Not only doing things like that but talking about it like there was no problem with it.

She thought maybe Matsuri was just a lot more honest with her feelings then she was, both to herself and to the person she loved.

Matsuri resumed what she was saying. "She had made such a surprised face that we both laughed at it. But we didn't know a classmate was in there too. He heard and reported us.  
The teacher barged in and dragged us out to the bathrooms, shouting so loud that everyone could hear and some students gathered around to see what was happening.

Kari was the classic good girl, while I was already known as the troublemaker; so the teacher reproached her mostly. He scorned us, called us freaks, lewd.

Kari was so shocked she started crying in front of everyone."  
Mei was astounded. What kind of teacher, no... What kind of person treats two girls that way!?  
Matsuri was still talking. "She was sobbing so loud. And I couldn't even hold her hand. That viscid worm just couldn't stop shouting to her, 'I'll tell your family, you'll be expelled! I'd never expect something like this from you... You're a shame for all this school!'

She was crying convulsively, and he just continued spitting his shit on her. I couldn't bare it.  
I ripped the soap dispenser from the wall and threw it against his face.  
It was metallic, he got his nose and two teeth broken.  
Mei looked at the girl's silhouette in surprise and admiration.

Two words were rolling in her mind. _Stupid _and _Brave_. She chose the second.

Matsuri remained silent for some time. Mei asked herself why she felt like talking about this to her now... but that wasn't the moment. She asked, "How are things between you two, now?"  
Matsuri exhaled deeply, then took a long breath. "I saw her again, just once. A week after the incident, I found out she was transferring. I was expelled right away from school, obviously, but she was just suspended. I couldn't understand why she was leaving, while I was not.

I couldn't see her, because I was confined at home.

Mum was so angry. She hated that I hid from her that I liked girls, but most of all that thing I did to the teacher had shocked her...

Well, I fled home all the same, when I knew Kari was really going to leave town.  
I tried going home to her, to talk with her, but her parents called my mother and I was dragged back again. I saw her from the window of her room. She didn't even try and reach me. I never heard from her since..."  
Mei felt sad for her. "Maybe she was..."  
"She was afraid. That's it," said Matsuri pointedly. "I called her many, many times. I messaged, mailed her, a lot. Once it was her mother answering to me. She said that she was going to change her daughter's number so I should stop trying to reach her."  
Mei thought her reaction was even more comprehensible now, though twisted and blatantly wrong. She could totally see herself playing with people to forget about her pain...

_Wait. __I__ actually did it._ She shook it from her mind.  
"Do you know anything of her whereabouts?" She asked.  
"I looked for her address, her new number..." her voice broke again, Matsuri was now clearly starting to cry. "She never replied... Not once."  
Mei searched inside her for a reason, an excuse. "Maybe.."  
"She gave up! She never even tried!" shouted Matsuri,

then started sobbing and hid herself under the covers.  
Mei felt sympathetic both to Matsuri and to that Kari girl.

"Maybe she felt guilty. Somehow she thought that leaving was for the best, for both of you..." Matsuri sobbed again. It was the first time she felt like talking about this with someone... Even though a part of her was still asking 'why to Mei and why now all of a sudden?' She felt and knew the brunette was someone who she could relate with. And in the pit of her stomach, like before, when that peace engulfed her as her wicked game was crumbling, she just felt relieved.

"I know we were stupid to do it at school. I know. But if we'd have stuck together maybe we could just have forgotten about that and... went on. I just wanted to be with her."  
Mei got closer when Matsuri started crying and sobbing uncontrollably. She held her shoulder for a while. Then Matsuri leaned on her, hiding her face in Mei's chest.  
Mei laid down woodenly from embarrassment but she didn't let go of her.  
She was a little stupefied with herself. She should at least be feeling indifference towards her pain. _After all she had done_. Instead all she was feeling was empathic sorrow and disappointment. She awkwardly patted her shoulder and distanced her a little. "Come on, crying is not going to help. You should just..." Then an idea struck her. "Why don't you make her find you?" she said, standing up quickly and going to look for something. Matsuri rubbed her eyes in the sudden light, when a heavy book landed right in front of her face on the bed.  
She opened it and found an advanced level maths exercises of a kind she hadn't studied yet. She looked interrogative at Mei, who was coming back to sit and browse some pages. "These... If you can solve these kind of exercises..." she said pointing at some complicated formula, "and maintain a good average on other subjects, you could apply for a scientific scholarship in my institute."  
Matsuri stared at her, interested but not quite sure. "How good should my average be... And could I do it, even if I'm not 16 yet?"

Mei looked confident. "All my school worries about, are grades. Pass an exam in front of a teacher, earning at least 75/100 credits. And with this level of calculus you can even choose your advanced classes. If you make it, your mom won't have to pull out a yen for your education until graduation."  
Matsuri looked at the book more and more curiously, starting to decipher the letters and numbers on the pages. A smirk popped on her face, Mei looked at her and said, "It would be the first time such a young student, and moreover a girl, reaches so high to earn a scientific scholarship in my school. If you do it, we get straight in the papers, maybe even the Asahi Shinbun. She could read it or come to know it. At least you could try."  
"You talk like yours is an elite institute..."  
Mei straightened in pride. "We're among the three high schools who replenish the lines of the Tōdai Tokyo-U and Kyoto-U every year. Our teachers are of the highest level and so are our programs. Even being among the 100 best is considered deign of being signaled on a good resume... Enter our school and you can aim as high as you want."  
Matsuri stayed silent for a bit, then, "How much time do I have..." the pink haired girl asked in all seriousness.  
Mei looked at her determined expression and replied. "Until the end of the year. When we'll take the finals you can be examined by a teacher to see if you reach our level and you would be admitted in March with another verification, two years earlier then usual."  
Matsuri smirked and closed the book soundly, then stretched a hand out. "Done."  
Mei didn't reply immediately to her gesture. She stared at the girl, thinking that, well...

This wasn't necessary, but she didn't need to know it, right?  
"Just one more condition... We've had our dose of rule-breaking students in our school. You have to dye your hair back to black."  
Matsuri gritted her teeth and her stretched arm trembled a bit, but she didn't falter.  
"Tsk... I'm going to make that pig-head teacher sooo sorry."  
Mei held her hand and shook it. "Happy to help..."  
Then they slid under the covers and after a second the room became dark again.

Matsuri said, "Uhm, sorry I got all your blouse wet... You won't say it to Yu-chi will you?"  
Mei looked at the ceiling. "Only if you stop calling her that... Or onee-chan... or anything else."  
Matsuri smiled. The room fell silent. Both of them were thinking.

After a while, though, Mei had to ask the one thing she was waiting to know.  
"So...You don't feel anything for Yuzu?"  
Matsuri didn't answer right away. _I felt high and mighty when it started, then I persisted in the certainty my purpose wa__s__worth__ all that hurt. Then I felt fearful and guilty. What about now...?_  
"I'm ashamed, I knew it was wrong, yet I didn't see other ways. Ever heard of 'a pain drives out another'? Well, I tried... Bullshit!"  
Mei appreciated her reckoning but didn't jilt. "I want you to apologize to her."  
Matsuri that time didn't balk "I'll do it. And... I owe an apology to you too. If I were you, I'd probably be a beaten bloody pulp by now."  
Mei smirked. "I have to say the thought crossed my mind."  
Matsuri smiled seeing the atmosphere had relaxed a bit. "Really... I'd expected at least a punch on my face or someth-Ou-ou-OUCH!"  
Mei had pinched hard on her side and twisted. "Punches are ungracious..."  
The younger girl hissed in pain, then rubbed the offended zone.  
"Damn me and always pushing my luck..."  
Mei smiled, a little relieved, and turned on her side to sleep.  
Matsuri still hissed from time to time.

But Mei lit the lamp again, breaking the silence after a while.

"Why did you tell me all this? I mean, why me, why didn't you tell it to Yuzu?"  
Matsuri smirked. "'Cause you're pretty fucked up yourself... And because Yuzu wouldn't understand. But you do, right?"  
Mei smiled wryly. "You're probably right, she's incapable of maliciousness..."  
"Honest, and sincere up to self-harm."  
"Straightforward at the limit of rudeness..."  
"And a little dumb sometim..."  
Mei turned towards Matsuri and got menacingly closer, "I don't like it when you talk this way about her."  
"Come on I was joking... But you gotta say sometimes she's just so funny with her stupid express..."  
Mei grabbed Matsuri's collar. "She's **not**_stupid_, she's just... a bit naive, and open, and totally trusting. So she's defenseless against people like you."  
Matsuri looked at the severe expression Mei had. She couldn't help but reply, "... And you."

Then she felt sorry and said jokingly, "look, I didn't mean to offend your _girlfriend_."  
Mei felt her hand on Matsuri's collar tremble. "She's not... We're not..." then she muted, flushing bright red.  
Matsuri chuckled. "Oh, I still love the way you loose your composure... Miss president. "  
"You little..."  
Matsuri sat up, "What... Come on, say it."  
Mei had knelt on the bed at the same time, still holding Matsuri's PJ. "You..."

The girl got closer, not in the slightest intimidated by her. She laughed. "I bet you never did it... You never got your hands dirty."  
Mei looked at her bewildered. "W-what are you talking about..."  
Matsuri took advantage of her moment of confusion and grabbed her wrist, pulling her hand away, pushing her back on the bed. "I'm talking about a good fight..." she said, blocking her hands trying to resist her, and sitting on her hips. "I bet you'd be as good as dead in my world."  
Mei gritted her teeth. "You don't know a thing..." she yanked away a hand from her grip and lifted her hips, rolling her down, "...about" and reversing their positions, "...me."  
Matsuri went wide eyed for a second at the furious expression the brunette had on her face, then smirked. The younger girl tilted her head to have a better look at Mei. Her disheveled blouse showed her slender waist and lacy slips on a simply perfect ass. Her legs were tense in keeping her down, showing her long muscles under a milky carnation.  
Matsuri looked at Mei in the eyes, with a glutton smirk on her face.  
She lifted a brow, huffing her breath out. "Lucky her..."  
Mei felt her face grow hot again, she huffed and let the girl go, going to sit on the edge of the bed.  
Matsuri sat up and couldn't help a chuckle starting to grow in her throat.

She started laughing openly then, while Mei was still steaming out the rage and the embarrassment of that last moment. She grunted, "Talking about stupid..."  
Matsuri laughed even more, then went back to her place, patting beside her, to invite Mei inside. "Come on, I promise I won't touch you... Not a finger."  
"You can count on it... if you want to keep it."  
The younger girl snorted, "Hah, that was better..."  
Mei huffed something incomprehensible while wrapping herself carefully under the covers.  
Matsuri was about to do the same, but she changed her mind and rolled a little closer to Mei.

Who turned her head to look at her suspiciously. "Now what..."  
The younger girl was leaned on her arm, a hand crawling on the covers, "I was meaning to ask..." her hand climbed on Mei's silhouette. Matsuri was about to open her mouth to talk again when the brunette sat up. "Don't even **think** of it!"  
Matsuri shrugged, "One may as well try..."  
Mei facepalmed her, pushing her away. "Jerk."

Yuzu still hadn't slept a wink. Her mom breathed calmly in deep slumber on the bed beside her, while she was thinking about the words Mei had said to her, some 4 hours ago.

Her eyes just seemed to refuse to close. '_Could we start all over again_?'

'_No! Not from being sisters' _Yuzu squirmed in excitement and expectation. Were they 'dating' in some weird and uncertain way? Were they 'together' now?

And what would it really mean to be a couple?  
Being the... _girlfriend? _The _girlfriend _of the president of the student council, Mei Aihara.  
She repeated her name in her mind, while rolling on her mattress and going to lay on her belly. She wanted to touch her, hug her, to sink her nose in that silky hair of hers and deeply breath in her scent. She hugged the pillow tight. She wanted to kiss her pale neck and hear that low groan she made again. She could kiss her now, couldn't she? Just because she could, right?

She sank her face in the pillow and giggled into it. _Or maybe not_... They didn't even confess to each other..._Am I building a castle in the sky again? I need to know, right away._

Mei wasn't able to sleep either. Last days events still storming in her mind. And in the end, Matsuri's behavior, was something she could relate with. She had realized the younger girl's ways were, weirdly as it may seem, more familiar and understandable then Yuzu's were.  
Mei was reflecting on how could it be possible for the two of them, so different in many ways, to be so undeniably attracted to each other. And on how they could make it work... If they could.  
At least something was surely engraved in her mind, now... _I want her to be with me._  
Mei inhaled deeply and listened to Matsuri's unsteady and loud breathing. She huffed her breath out and tried to eradicate from her mind that last worried look Yuzu had on her face when she had left the table. Was she worried about them? What was that troubled look she had all dinner round? She thought she had cleared...

The door screeched open.  
Mei froze and breathed again only when she realized Yuzu's silhouette was the one in the doorway. "What are you doing here!?" she whispered, carefully sliding down from the bed and reaching her to the door.  
"I-I wanted to talk..."  
Mei lifted an eyebrow."I doubt it..."  
Yuzu huffed, "Really talk this time... Please?"  
Mei signaled her to get out, "Downstairs..."  
They walked down in slow barefoot steps, to not make a sound.

Once in the living room they felt safe enough to talk, even if in a low voice.  
Yuzu started right away, maybe helped by the fact that the room was in the dark and she couldn't see her face very well. "I thought about it until now..." she came closer to Mei and took her hand. "I need to know... Where, _precisely, _are we starting again from?"  
Mei gaped a little. Yuzu had her hair down, golden waves on her almost totally bare shoulders over her misshaped, too big t-shirt she used to sleep in.  
_Oh, this must be what Harumi was talking about. Total involuntarily hotness_.  
Mei lowered her eyes and thought about the other things Harumi had said to her.  
_Do something for her, do something with her_.  
"I..." she stumbled again.  
_What's wrong with being a little romantic? Have you ever thought about just courting her?_  
Yuzu waited in uncertainty. It was the first time she heard Mei so unsure.  
The brunette tried again. "How things usually start... Should we go somewhere... together, next weekend?"  
Yuzu gawked. "A-a date!?"  
She stared at Mei, now getting used to the feeble light filtering from the windows.  
The brunette replied looking sideways, "If you want to call it that way..."  
Yuzu grinned and then put her hand on her mouth, realizing that if she could see Mei, now Mei could see her too. But she was too happy to hide it. "Yeah... I'd very much like to call it that."  
Her smile, freed from her hands, widened.  
Mei thought that the only thing they've done together before was going and visit her father's grave, but she didn't want... Well, yes, their first date, to be a gloomy thing.  
But Yuzu preceded her, interrupting her train of thoughts.

"I want to go home... To Ichinomiya. With you."  
Mei gaped, _oh no, not that_. "To your grandparents?" She started, "I don't think that is..."  
But Yuzu interrupted her again. "There's nothing special in there but I want to show you my old school, the park where I used to play... There's a cafeteria there, they do the best crepes!" she ended, smiling and getting closer again.  
Mei looked at her but spoke looking somewhere else. _T__oo damn close_.  
"You know I'm not that sociable. I thought we could go somewhere more... Cozy."  
Yuzu didn't bulk. "But **it will be **private, it's me and you. Nobody else matters in the end," ended the girl, pinching at the sleeve of the blouse Mei was wearing.  
Mei looked at her in awe. Y_ou're too sweet for someone like me_, and admitted defeat.  
"I want to kiss you right now..."  
Yuzu let her go in a hurry and blushed, then straightened and smiled to her, holding her hands behind her back. "We should... wait. We've still to go on our first date. We haven't even confessed to each other... Yet."  
Mei gawked. "What?"  
Yuzu took a step back, "Well, we should do things properly..."  
"We've kissed... **a lot**!" Mei made a step towards her.  
Yuzu tried a feeble resistance, "Yeah but... we should've..."  
Mei walked in her direction again and this time Yuzu showed her such a terrified face before running away, Mei couldn't help but chase after her. Mei's hand almost grabbed her right away but Yuzu fled in another direction with a little wail. Mei followed her swiftly, almost catching her T-shirt through her fingers and once Yuzu ran in front of the sofa, the brunette practically launched herself onto her, tackling her down onto it with a huff. Mei then climbed on her body, until their faces were close, while Yuzu was fighting to restrain her laughter.

When they were looking into each others eyes, Yuzu quickly put both her hands on her mouth. Mei stilled for an instant, then kissed the back of her hands, with her eyes closed. Yuzu watched her face, so close and loving.  
When Mei went back to look at her, Yuzu had a smile in her eyes.  
She breathed in, to fill her chest with that little joy that threatened to make her heart burst.  
_I'm still __**so**__ not used to it_. She smiled to herself, then she asked her, "Are you serious?"  
Yuzu nodded with her hands still on her mouth.  
Mei half smiled. _She just wants to feel... normal, I guess._  
Her smile became a wink. "All right, so... After mid terms. If you still want to, obviously. But, would you like to go somewhere else after the visit to Ichinomiya? I'd like to show you a place dear to me."  
Then she sat up, looking at the still smiling Yuzu. The blonde nodded vigorously, _anything and everywhere you want_, than hugged a cushion to keep her arms from going to hug Mei of their own volition. She watched the brunette head to the stairs. Mei spoke without turning to look at her, but her voice was serene. "So, tomorrow we're going to that old house at 9 o'clock?"  
Yuzu didn't reply, she was too occupied to muffle her excited giggles in the cushion.  
Mei asked herself why the perennial hole in her stomach didn't seem to hurt so much in that moment.

Everybody woke up early that Sunday morning.

The house in which Matsuri and her mother would probably move, was waiting for them.  
They prepared bento for everyone and headed to the administrative quarter in town. It was really weird, in the very middle of tall, silver office buildings, there was that oasis of greenery surrounded by a tall dark wooden wall. They rang the bell that hung outside the gate and an old woman, stooped by age, went to open to them after a while. She smiled so happily through her wrinkled face that her eyes were almost lost through. They made her way inside, admiring the little garden. Yuzu was like a kid in a toy store, wide eyed at the scenery. The stony lantern, the little pond with the fishes and, "Wooow, look at that! What was it called!? I saw one in that old drama on tv!"

Mei sighed, a little disappointed that a Japanese person didn't know what a Shishi-Odoshi was.  
Mei and the land lady both looked at the blonde. "Haaa, youngsters..." they said at the same time.  
Everybody cracked up laughing after an instant and turned to look at the dark haired girl, who blushed and turned her back on them. The old lady was laughing too, hiding it gracefully behind her sleeve. She took Mei's hand, accompanying her to the porch, where the girl took off her shoes and the lady did the honors, showing them the entrance and the place. After some time, while the women talked and examined the building, Matsuri had fled upstairs to see the night quarters. Yuzu looked for Mei, who was nowhere to be seen. Then finding Mei, with the corner of her eyes, following a spotted kitty along the porch.  
She followed her.  
Yuzu loved the way Mei looked when she thought nobody was watching her. She stared at the girl while she silently, ladylike walked down the porch through the side garden. Tentatively proceeding as to not scare the cat, suddenly stopping when the animal turned to look at her.

She didn't havethat stiff aura around her, instead she looked comfortable, like she belonged in that 'out of time' place.  
The cat though decided to run away and with some jumps on the bushes it crossed the outer wall.  
Mei looked disappointed, almost pouting. Yuzu chuckled, while she watched Mei fidgeting, watching her toes. The brunette then took off her stockings and enjoyed the feeling of her bare feet on the fresh grass.  
The blonde startled her, "Isn't it cold?"  
Mei was blushing a little, feeling a bit exposed. "It's... tickling and a little prickling. But it's not cold."  
Yuzu got close, then sat on the porch. She didn't remember the last time she walked on grass. "Aren't there any bugs?" she said, grazing the grass with her feet.  
Mei smiled and went to reach for her hand, pulling Yuzu towards her.  
"Come..."  
Yuzu jumped on her toes, "Wa-waait! What if I smash a beetle, or a snail!"  
Mei laughed, not leaving her hand, and instead taking her other too.  
"Isn't it weirdly pleasant?" said Mei moving her toes in the tickling grass.  
Yuzu watched their feet closely, noting her tiny milky toes in the green and a sudden blush hit her.  
Trying to hide the thought she just had, about kissing those toes one by one, she went to climb on the porch again. "Naaa, I guess I'm not fit for these... natural... things."

she ended, wrinkling her nose.  
Mei smiled and reached her, sitting beside her. The brunette talked, starting to put back her stockings. "I think you're just not used to it... I bet you'd like it if..." Mei realized Yuzu was staring at her legs and averted her eyes, feeling a sudden warmth on her cheeks. Yuzu felt so embarrassed her stomach twitched. She sprang up, and she slid a bit, while she blabbered some excuse to leave while she walked back hurriedly. Mei huffed away her embarrassment and went back after a while too.

Half of the day went on quite hecticly. Everybody gave a hand in moving wardrobes, or tatami mats, organizing a 'to do' and 'to buy' list and arguing about how much traditional ways could apply to modern living. Matsuri had wandered through the house the entire time. In the beginning finding it to be too neat and empty to look like a home but gradually getting to like the feeling her mother had plagued her with. Work to do or not, that's where they were going to live from soon on. The pink haired girl had also noticed the glances the girls were exchanging. Blushing, fidgeting, averting their eyes from each other when they got to link eyes, as they were seated at the opposite side of the table for a tea.  
_Jeez, get a room you two... Oh... Wait._  
Matsuri nonchalantly stood near Mei and talked without looking at her, donning her headphones. "Why don't you go and take a look upstairs? There's an interesting engraved truss in the left room."  
Mei furrowed her brows, looking interrogatively up to her. Matsuri pointed to the stairs with a nod of her head, starting to sing in a low voice. The brunette shrugged and stood up, walking unsurely to the first floor. Matsuri then went to sit near Yuzu, while the women and the landlady went out in the garden. The blonde got a little tense. They haven't had the chance to talk after what happened. Yuzu was suddenly reminded of the last kiss she let her give her, and of the way she brusquely shook Matsuri's hand away when she went to talk with Mei the evening before. The younger girl laid down, face up beside the blonde, head on her crossed arms, trying to find the words. Maybe she should simply say...  
"Yuzu-chan..."  
Yuzu turned to look at her. Matsuri never called her that.  
"I'm sor... " started the pink haired girl, but she never had the chance to finish the sentence, because Yuzu let herself fall on her in a hug, in tears.  
"I'm the one who's sorry, I'm the older one, I shouldn't have led you on, I should have cleared things up from the beginning..."  
Matsuri had went wide eyed at her reaction. _I knew perfectly well how things were... I just played with you and her. As always you're too kind for your own good._  
Matsuri pushed her to sit up, holding her shoulders.

She sighed with a sweet smile as Yuzu showed one of her childlike faces, rubbing her eyes.  
"Onee-chan... I'm really sorry I've hurt you."  
Yuzu was about to reply again but Matsuri cut her off. "We'll talk again, but now there's someone waiting for you upstairs, in the room on the left."  
Yuzu didn't realize immediately whom she was talking about. "... Mei?"  
Matsuri rolled her eyes "Who else!? Go on, I'll knock if they're coming..." she said pointing at the women chatting and pushing her. _My sweet, dumb, big sister... It would be nice if we really were._

Mei turned to the door when Yuzu opened it and entered the room. They looked at each other in silence. Mei then smiled bitterly, seeing Yuzu had cried. "Did you talk with her?" she said, turning her eyes away. She thought Matsuri had sent her away to have the chance to be alone with Yuzu.  
The blonde started timidly, "Yeah... She said she was sorry... And... I'm sorry too. I'll never say it enough. It was all my fault for letting her storm in like that, I made everyone suffer. An-And I'm sorry for before too... I got... A little carried away."  
Mei hurried to justify herself too. "Oh, no it was nothing. It's me who's been out of sorts all day long and... And I have to tell you something." Her face turned sad. "I too share responsibility for the misunderstandings of these last few days."  
Yuzu looked at her expression turning grave. She got close, searching her eyes.

Mei seemed on the verge of tears. "The kiss you and Matsuri shared... I saw it."  
Yuzu froze. "W-what!?... Why didn't you tell me!?"  
Mei was so sorry it hurt just like the first time. But she felt like they all shared their part of guilt.

"I guess for the same reason you didn't..."  
Yuzu looked at her, feeling shameful and seeing the same emotion on Mei's face.

"Oh... So that's why you were upset when I came home."  
Mei walked towards her, changing attitude. "I wasn't upset, I was **enraged**... And you lied to me!"  
Yuzu blushed red hot, "I-I never..."  
Mei got closer, a brow lifted. "You said you were late because you had to escort Harumi home..."  
Yuzu retreated a bit. "I thought... I thought you didn't need something else to bother you, seeing how nervous you were," she tried.  
Mei smiled, walking close enough to reach for her hand and to trail her fingers up to graze her arm. Yuzu was fixed on Mei's fingertips. A shiver running through her spine.  
Mei made another step and their legs touched, faces so close they could feel each other's breath on their skin. Mei lifted her face, a light in her eyes, a wink on her lips. "You're forgiven then, though..." she said speaking every word in a hot whisper that caressed Yuzu's lips.  
The blonde was breathing shallowly, absorbed by the closeness of the girl in front of her.

Her milky white skin, the dark well of her eyes, her rosy lips. When the brunette grazed her chin she felt her legs go week. Their noses grazed. Mei spoke again in the same hot whisper.

"It's such a shame you said to take it gingerly..." then turned and walked away, leaving Yuzu to gape at her, gawking like an idiot. "Huh!?"  
The blonde recovered quickly though. The excitement she felt was not something she could shake away so easily. She didn't want it to end there. "Wait, wait up," she said grabbing her hand and making Mei turn to look at her. "There's something I'd like to tell you too..."  
Mei looked confused as Yuzu straightened a bit, and cleared her voice.  
She took her hand in hers, and looked straight in her eyes blushing.  
Mei's ears became red hot as she slowly understood where this was going. _We __haven't__ even confess yet..._  
Yuzu smiled at her expression, seeing this time it was her turn to gape.  
She grazed her cheek and said, with the most serious face she could manage, feeling a big smile threatening to form on her lips.  
"I really like you a lot, Aihara-San."  
Mei went wide eyed at her for an instant, feeling her heart skip a beat, then lowered her eyes and leaned onto her, hiding her face in the nape of her neck. They stayed like that for some seconds, then Mei's voice, muffled by Yuzu's clothes said, "I like you too... Hikari-San."  
Her father's surname. Yuzu held her closer. The brunette circled her bust with her arms and let a kiss drop on her shoulder. Yuzu didn't move and Mei kissed her again. Her neck, her jaw, her cheek. Yuzu couldn't resist further, she turned her face to meet her halfway. The kiss they shared was a little clumsy at first but they smiled, looking at each other and softened the kiss, still holding close.  
Then a frantic knock on the door scared them. Yuzu had totally forgot about that. "Shit..." she exclaimed, teeth gritted. Then grasped Mei's face again for another quick kiss and went to close herself in the closet.  
Mei looked dumbfounded for an instant, then the door opened and the women entered the room, preceded by the old landlady.  
Mrs. Aihara looked at Mei's hot and bothered expression and asked, "Are you ok, Mei?"  
The brunette staggered just an instant looking at Matsuri's smirk. _So it was to give us some time alone..._ "I was... Just admiring the carvings on the truss," she said, pointing up.  
The landlady smiled gracefully at Mei, "That is what I was going to show you. This is the oldest part of the house..." The women went on talking and Matsuri walked close to Mei, a confused expression on her face. "Where is she?"  
Mei smiled to Mrs. Mizusawa who was gleaming with enthusiasm at every detail of the house, then, without averting her eyes, whispered, "closet."  
Matsuri cracked up laughing. "Hope it was worth it!"

Then, noticing the sweet smile Mei had on her face, she had her answer.  
The day went on without further notable events. They ate lunch and spent the afternoon placing back all the furniture they had moved to check on the house structure. Then they went home for dinner with the girls strangely a lot calmer and serener than the evening before.

The day after, the infamous mid terms week was starting. They'd be examined by their teacher on every subject to ascertain their average grade.  
So the girls were pretty much always occupied with reviewing and studying.

Matsuri kept them company, but was so absorbed in her formulas and calculus she barely spoke a word or two. The atmosphere had eased a lot and Yuzu and Matsuri were back to a normal old friendship. Mei looked at them with a smile when they had the chance to take a break, as they played videogames or chatted animatedly about the latest fad in clothing.

She was glad she had someone to talk about things she liked.  
Yuzu looked really tranquil and cheerful, she was a lot more focused on her studies too, even if sometimes she just wined like a little kid when she reached her limit. But Mei had learnt to manage those outbursts. She just let her whine a bit then reminded her of her promise to do her best in those exams and her correctitude bested her laziness.

They too went along pretty well, even if the fact that they never had a chance to be alone was starting to take its toll. They were not sisters, nor friends. And that was made clear every time they casually grazed hands or let their eyes linger a bit too much on each other.  
There was a time when they were studying in which the situation became no more ignorable.

They were all studying in Mei's room as always, when Yuzu casually lifted her eyes from her notebook, seeing Mei nipping distractedly on a pen and stared at her for some seconds. Her mind jumped so quickly to notice the details of her profile in the light of the window. Her graceful silhouette, the curved lines of her lips, her hand gently putting aside some strands of hair; and then going to graze her long, pale, soft neck. Yuzu's jaw had dropped and she gawked when Mei turned, noticing her look. "Yuzu, you ok?"

Incapable of saying a thing, the blonde just blabbered some unintelligible excuse until she felt the need to get out of that too crowded room.  
Matsuri, the tip of her ears reddened too, cleared her voice and lifted her eyes from her book. "You're going to kill her like that..."  
Mei looked at her, even more confused. "What did I do!?"

The younger girl sighed and went back to studying.

The days of the exams finally arrived and the girls were both so nervous they barely shared a word at home. Matsuri and Mrs. Aihara both wished them good luck, but they had barely listened. Each of them dwelling in maintaining their mind at ease enough to remember the huge amount of material they studied.  
Yuzu didn't want to bother Mei, so she didn't even try to make herself noticed while she watched the brunette organizing her desk before the tests. Instead she was surprised to see her coming near and calling her out of class. Yuzu watched Harumi smile at her, while following the scene with her eyes. The dark haired girl pinched a sleeve of Yuzu's uniform and stopped her in a corner of a corridor. Students were passing by and they kind of enjoyed just being there close and looking at each other for a while. Yuzu started to talk, feeling the warmth of Mei's hand near her arm.

"I hope you get back to first place..."  
Mei fixed her eyes on Yuzu's and her hand went to put a blonde strand of hair behind her ear.

Yuzu smiled longingly to her. _I'd like to kiss you now..._  
And the same thought was printed on Mei's face. The brunette briefly grazed at her cheek. Considering normal behavior between students and her usually wooden attitude, that was as if she had kissed her in front of everyone. Yuzu was surely blushing like she had done so.  
"Do your best..." said Mei seriously, then preceding her back to class.  
Yuzu moved after a second, "You can bet on it!" she said aloud.  
She gave a high five to Harumi once back to her desk and decided she would make all those backbreaking days of study profit.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hi everyone! Here I am with my little thing again!**

**With the umpteenth but never truer THANK YOU to my kind QC, Angel0Wonder ^_^ Thanks for your hard work and, most of all, your advice senpai!**

**Hope you like it and THANK YOU so much for all your support, it's been amazing writing this thingy and reading all of your feed back, really, I'm so grateful!**

**I'm in your kind care!**

* * *

The girls came home looking devastated by the two-day-camp of mid terms. That Friday evening none of them seemed to have the will or strength to hit the road and go have fun.  
Harumi was again a guest at the Aihara's. "Oh, God! my brain must look like an umeboshi right now. I can almost feel it bump and bounce, dry and tiny against my skull..."  
Yuzu was next, "Mooom, please tell me you have some leftovers in the fridge, I'm starving... Jeez! They didn't want to let us go!"  
The girls sat heavily at the dining table. Yuzu's mother welcomed them in. "Dinner will be ready in a blink... Girls you look worn out! How did it go?"  
Mei, who hadn't opened her mouth still, had reached them at that moment. She mumbled something unintelligible then went to take a glass of water.  
Mrs. Aihara looked at her gloomy expression. Mei was usually serious and composed but her face showed pure dread and agony.  
"Mei, what's wrong sweetie, are you not feeling well?"  
Yuzu and Harumi huffed. The blonde waved a hand, saying, "Don't bother her, mom. She's been mumbling the whole time 'I failed, I totally failed..."  
Harumi supported her. "Yeah, like she could... Miss 100%."  
Mei grunted at them, then doom seemed to fall on her again, and she disappeared. Going to lay on the couch with a huff.  
Mrs. Aihara looked at her, then asked the other two, "Are you sure there's nothing to worry about?"  
Harumi pointed at the couch, "It's an overachiever's classic, they all go panicky and terrified and then they score a perfect 100. I wouldn't worry about that..."  
Mrs. Aihara gave Yuzu a slap in the head, her lips thin in a tense smile.  
"But maybe a good sister could be more caring and supportive..." she hissed, pointing to the couch with her head, then pushing her daughter down from her chair.  
Yuzu blushed a little and went to the sofa, crouching down near Mei.  
"Hey..." she said, touching the point of her nose.  
Mei hummed and hid her face deeper in the cushions.  
Yuzu made a quirky smile. "Come on, don't tell me you really believe you failed, it's plainly impossible! You studied harder than ever and I..." She lowered her voice, "and I watched you, all the time... You wrote a lot on those papers and you looked confident doing it. There's no way you were wrong."  
Mei lifted her face a bit, a pout still curving her mouth. "I'm sure I failed one of the history question... I wrote Nobunaga instead of Ashikaga."  
Yuzu frowned a bit then lightened up. "Oh, the one about the revolt? But it was the Tokugawas ruling!"  
Mei looked at her doubtfully, but hopeful, standing on her elbows.  
"Are you sure?"  
Yuzu lifted her head but she didn't even have to ask, because the history book was already flying above the sofa, almost hitting her straight in the face. She was about to reproach but Harumi was already pleading mercy, "Sorry..."  
Yuzu sighed, then crouched back, browsing through the pages and then pointing at one of them. "Here it is. The Tokugawa sedated the Shimabara rebellion in blood in 1638."  
Yuzu's prowess made Mei smile in pride and her expression softened, while she went to lie on the couch again. This time facing the blonde, leaning on an elbow. "And you? How do you think you fared?"  
Yuzu leaned onto the couch too, resting her chin on her crossed hands, sitting on the carpet. "I should have done well, I've never filled so many questions before, that's sure. So let's hope I at least didn't get them all wrong!" she ended with a sheepish smile.  
Mei smiled at her happy-go-lucky attitude. Her free hand went to rest on Yuzu's cheek, almost without her recognition. The blonde stilled, blushing. They were covered by the seatback of the sofa but still very close to the others in the room. Yuzu whispered cautiously, "Mom could..."  
The brunette just stared at her at first, then moved closer to Yuzu and let a kiss drop on her lips. It was soundless, quick and... Well... With just a nip of the tongue. But Yuzu had never felt so excited as that moment.  
She stood up wobbling a bit, turning her face away from kitchen then giving a quick look at Mei, smiling quirkily lying on the sofa. The blonde was redder than she ever was. Her ears were going purple while she staggered. "I'm going t-to... Have a bath!" Her voice came out too loud in the last part. In her brain she was rejoicing about finding a solution in spite of the hormonal shower.  
Harumi chuckled at her expression. "Well, congratulations on that, Yuzu-chi."  
Her mother was still busy in the kitchen. Mei smiled to Harumi, lifting herself from the sofa.  
Mrs. Aihara's attention, though, had been raised by the loud announcement of her daughter.  
She turned towards the girl, reprimanding. "How rude of you, Yuzu, leaving your guest here to wait for you, while you take a bath...? At least invite her in too!"  
Harumi rose up a brow, staring at the girls with a smirk.  
Both Mei and Yuzu turned their heads towards Mrs. Aihara, "NO!" they cried out together.  
Mei fell silent as as stone, her eyes fixed at her feet, paled.  
Mrs. Aihara just then realized what she had said and, checking that Harumi was looking away from her, mouthed an embarrassed "I'm so, so sorry" to her daughter.  
Yuzu cleared her voice, "Hm... We'll take turns, right? Our bathtub is too small... Isn't it mom?"  
Mrs. Aihara blushed and bustled about casually with some kitchen utensils.  
"Really... Really too small. And anyway you're all grown up now. You need privacy..."  
The room echoed in silence.  
Harumi chuckled, then plainly laughed at the awkward atmosphere there was in the living room.  
Mrs. Aihara retired herself with the excuse of making dinner.  
Harumi clapped a hand on her leg, laughing louder.  
"You should see your faces!"  
Mei went to grab her by an arm, and dragged her to the stairs, where she caught Yuzu too, to bring everybody up to her room.

"Stop laughing like that at least!" blurted Mei, letting both Harumi and Yuzu go, into her room.  
Harumi still was grinning. "Impossible! Not with you looking like that... I didn't know you were even capable of expressing something so trivial like emotions on your face."  
Yuzu started laughing, only to feel her face twist in the effort to be serious, at the freezing look Mei shot her.  
Meanwhile Matsuri; taking off her earphones once hearing the sudden chat in the room; sat silently on the bed, unnoticed.  
Mei was still worked up and said in a loud voice, "You could have said something to ease the situation! Didn't you notice how embarrassed her mother was!?"  
Harumi laughed again. "And lose the chance to look at your terrified face? Not for all the gold in the world..."  
Yuzu looked at both the girls, chests out, eyes darting in defiance, pointing aggressively to each other. Two lionesses.  
She huffed, then lifted her hands in surrender and joined Matsuri in watching the scene from afar.  
Mei replied, "It was not fear... I was astound by your stupidity! It should have been common sense to immediately refuse such a proposal!"  
Harumi provoked her, pointing a finger to her chest. "You were already picturing it, admit it. Me and her, naked, washing each others' backs... Or who knows what else. Hey! Oh oh, oh my god you're livid!" Harumi laughed finally, fleeing away when Mei tried to grasp her finger and catch her, jumping on the bed behind Yuzu's back.  
Mei steamed out while looking at the other girls expressions, staring at her like they never had seen her this way before. Then she turned around with a deep scowl, making her way to the door.  
But Yuzu jumped down from the bed, grabbed her from behind and hugged her. "Oh, come on... She was just joking a bit," said her voice, sweet, and close to her ear.  
Mei looked at Yuzu's arms circling her, and took a breath. Then she whispered, "I know," feeling a warm comfort coming from that simple hug.  
Mei breathed deeply once more, then couldn't resist the urge to kiss her cheek.  
Yuzu moved only after some instants, turning towards the other girls in the room, scratching her head in embarrassment.  
Harumi had a "Can't win against that" smirk on her face.  
Matsuri shook her head, smiling at the flushing Yuzu. Then turned her attention to Mei, who had moved closer and had grabbed the book she was reading.  
"A manga?" asked Mei severely, pinching the book.  
Matsuri remained calm, sliding down from the bed and going to the desk, where Mei followed her briefly after. "It was just a break... Look, I'm already to page 45 and I managed to solve the ones you circled."  
Mei gave her an approving look and they chatted a little more of algorithms and equations, giving the chills to the other two girls, who slowly took their distance.  
Harumi pointed at them. Thinking back to what she had said to Mei, but feigning ignorance with Yuzu, she donned a disgusted expression.  
"What is... That?"  
Yuzu sat on the bed. "Oh, it's still news for me too. It seems Matsuri is a little genius in maths and she's going to apply for a scholarship in our school."  
Harumi gawked, "What!?" You should have been nice to her but... That's going way overboard!  
The pink haired girl was looking up to Mei in admiration.  
Yuzu frowned. "Yeah... They got close".  
Harumi laughed, "Don't be silly. She's just tutoring her..."  
Yuzu didn't change expression. Harumi hugged her shoulders and shook her a bit. "Oy... Stop that, ok?" Feeling terribly sad but hiding it behind a smile, she said. "You are the one and only in her heart. Trust me."  
Yuzu smiled to her in such a sweet way, Harumi was forced to get far from her, nearly right away. Going to browse the books in the library, to keep Yuzu from seeing the tears starting to prickle in her eyes.

After a while they were all called downstairs for the dinner. There was Oden; a tasty way to warm oneself in a wintery evening. Yuzu and Harumi were at ease, chatting between them. Matsuri busted in their topics from time to time, making them laugh.  
Mei and Mrs. Aihara watched them from behind their bowls of broth.  
They smiled to each other. It was nice to have a serene, familiar atmosphere in that house again. Once dinner was over, Matsuri and Harumi were left free to watch TV on the sofa, while Mei asked Yuzu to help her clean the table.  
The blonde said, after a little while. "Say... Should we tell mom about tomorrow?"  
Mei lowered her eyes. 'Will you promise me you'll behave as just sisters until mid terms end?' The promise they exchanged with Yuzu's mother, twirled in her head. She looked at Yuzu.  
"I don't see reasons to hide it... We... Kept our promise, didn't we?"  
Yuzu's cheeks reddened, "Mo-more or less..." thinking back to a certain office, a sofa and lots of kissing.  
Mei got closer. "So, are you going to tell her?"  
"Me!?"  
"She's your mom!"  
"But I thought we could tell her together!"  
Mrs. Aihara popped suddenly in their talk, starting to wash the dishes.  
"What are you two going to tell me?"  
The girls linked looks and joined her at the sink. Mei was the first to start. "Yuzu was thinking about going to pay a visit to her grandparents, tomorrow."  
The woman smirked, pretending not to understand. "Sure! Why don't we go together?"  
The brunette gaped a bit. "Actually... I thought of showing Yuzu a place I'd like her to see, after it, and..." Mei gulped.  
Mrs. Aihara was about to smile at her hesitation, but kept her act together 'till the end. Mei resumed.  
"I thought we could pass the day together... Alone," finally said the girl, taking a breath.  
The woman put a hand on her shoulder, smiling, "was it so hard to say?"  
Then she passed the sponge to Yuzu, smiling at her too. Mei breathed relieved.  
"Ok... Have fun! But, wait, are you going to stay out at dinner too?"  
Yuzu and her mother turned to Mei, the brunette blushed a little, putting a strand of hair behind her ear.  
"We'd be back right after it... Is it all right?"  
Mrs. Aihara mumbled. "Only if you promise me that you'll be careful. And you won't mingle in weird places."  
Mei got all serious. "Rest assured, I'd never put ourselves in danger... And... We'll call the moment we're there."  
The woman smiled at her and to her daughter. "Ok then..." she left them.  
Mei huffed out, looking sideways, then started washing the glasses.  
Yuzu had kept silent all that time.  
Mei stared at her thoughtful expression. Did she change her mind?  
"If... If you still want to go... Obviously."  
Yuzu sprang out of her thoughts. "Yes! I-I want to go! It's just..." Her voice became lower. "I was thinking on how we'll look from outside. I mean... Will people think we are a-a couple?"  
Mei's ears became red while she washed the bowls. "I don't know... I guess it depends on... How we behave?"  
Yuzu dropped the sponge. "You know, mom told me that her 6 years with my father were the happiest of her life but also the most embarrassing. He was European and he was... Showy, in the way he was with her. You know, 20 years ago, a blonde, tall Gaijin; circling her shoulders, or worse, her hips, while walking down the street. Kissing her nonchalantly in front of everyone. She needed months to get used to all the comments that followed them along the way."  
Mei looked at her, knowing where the talk was going.  
Yuzu resumed. "Do you think... We'd be even more targeted?"  
Mei looked at her. "I'm sure of it," she said bluntly, leaving Yuzu in despair.  
The brunette resumed. That was not a point to be taken lightly. "There could be someone... Doing heavy jokes on us, or even call us names... Does this bother you?" Mei looked at Yuzu's face turning to a sad expression.  
Sure it was bothering her. It was bothering her too.  
She asked then, "to the point of giving up?" Staring at her.  
Yuzu turned towards her, a determined look on her face. "No," she said simply.  
Mei sustained her look, then Yuzu blushed. "Anyway... It's not like we need to kiss on the street or anything..."  
Mei blushed too, "O-of course... Still being legally sisters and all..."  
For a while the sound of splashing water was the only one that could be heard. Yuzu got closer after some time, their shoulders grazing.  
"But... We're not on the street now, are we?"  
Mei blushed, looking at Yuzu leaning closer.  
She hissed in a rushed whisper, "They're just on the other side of the room!"  
Yuzu didn't stop, she glanced at the living room.  
"Everybody's busy watching the movie... And I really, really want a kiss right now."  
Mei turned her flushed face towards the living room, finding only backs turned towards them. When she turned her head back, Yuzu was millimeters away. She closed her eyes and waited in a shiver until their lips met, soft, warm. Yuzu reached for her chin, leaving a little foam on her, then nipped at Mei's lower lip. They parted, looking back right away.  
Nobody had moved, or noticed.  
"This movie's really good, isn't it?" came Mrs. Aihara's voice from the living room. The girls smiled, feeling a little awkward. Then ended the chores and they joined everybody else on the sofa.

Ichinomiya looked good even under the thin November rain that had started to fall. The girls took a stroll, under two umbrellas.  
Being under the same one had seemed too married couple-ish.  
Yuzu was naming all the places she knew or telling an anecdote bound to it.  
The little town was no more than a 2000 soul village and had its schools all cramped in a big campus. Yuzu showed where she and Matsuri, and pretty much every child in town, had passed its adolescence.  
Then they went to the residential area. "See? And that is the park where we used to play. Her house was right here," she said pointing up to a tall gray building. "I went there almost everyday after school, since her mother came back late from work. I managed to make some pocket money to buy all sorts of frilly things and gadgets. I was pretty proud of being, you know, independent already at that age."  
Mei listened to everything she was saying, thinking she could feel the warmth of her normal life in her words. Then the topic fell on babysitting again.  
"...When she grew up a bit we used to play painting her face with my make up and wearing my things. Thinking back to it now, we were both so flashy with the lipstick all doodling our faces!"  
Mei smiled. Yuzu felt sorry she had kept silent all the time. She smiled back to her, "I'm sorry I keep talking about her all the time..."  
Mei shook her head. "It's ok... It's nice to hear she was not always that bitchy."  
Yuzu laughed, but Mei spoke again. "And... I think I'm only just envious of someone who's known you so longer than me..."  
Yuzu blushed, watching Mei closing her umbrella and noticing only in that moment it had stopped raining. Mei's hands were really red from cold.  
Yuzu patted her forehead. "What a jerk, I totally forgot I brought gloves!" she said, searching her coat's wide pockets.  
"Here..." she said handing them to Mei.  
The brunette pushed them away, "Oh no. You wear them..."  
But Yuzu held them in place, "Come on, your hands look painfully red..."  
Mei resisted her offer again and walked away a bit.  
Yuzu thought for a moment, then reached her, "Let's split then..." she said.  
"Here, take the left one," while she donned the right one.  
Mei looked at her a little baffled, wearing the glove. But when the blonde stretched her ungloved hand to her, she blushed in understanding.  
"Oh..." was all Mei managed to say.  
Yuzu slowly reached for her hand, holding it and then hiding it in the pocket of her coat with her own. It warmed more than just their hands.  
They walked close and silently for a bit, then Yuzu intertwined her fingers with hers. Mei looked at her, gazing forward, rosy cheeked in a slight embarrassment. She held her hand tight and Yuzu turned to look at her, then stopped on her tracks, stopping Mei too.  
"I... I know we can't do it and saying it's kind of useless but... I think it's only fair that you know... I was..." she looked around seeing nobody was near enough to hear. "I was thinking I want to kiss you really bad right now."  
Mei blushed scarlet and turned her face away. Wha-what a stupid thing to say!  
Then looked up and found Yuzu was looking at her so longingly you could actually read her thoughts on her face. Mei leaned on Yuzu's shoulder.  
"Me too..." she whispered, tightening her hold on her hand in the pocket.

Yuzu's grandparents' house was a little villa, reachable on foot from the center. Mei straightened herself a bit, while Yuzu hurried her last steps on the entrance gate. A gray haired woman, a kind smile on her face, went to open the door. She was a lot shorter then Yuzu and reached up for her shoulders to hug her grand-daughter. "Granny!" said Yuzu cheerfully, leaning down a little.  
"Aw, you're taller every time you visit! I missed my little rabbit," said the woman caressing Yuzu's ponytails. The blonde laughed and the woman looked over her shoulder, noticing Mei a little behind. "You came with a friend!?" she said looking really surprised.  
Yuzu stood straight up and pointed to Mei with a hand.  
"She's my mother's husband's daughter... And also my classmate."  
"Your stepsister!? Oh! It's so nice to meet you finally!" said the woman bowing her head and smiling warmly.  
Mei bowed deeply, "Aihara Mei... The pleasure is mine, sorry for coming unannounced. I hope we're not bothering you..."  
The woman made way for them to enter. "Oh, don't mention it. We're two retired lazy old people. We're glad to have a visit, from time to time..." said in a playful reproach the woman.  
Yuzu scratched her head a little. "I'm sorry grandma, I should come more often..."  
The woman made them seat in the living room. Speaking to Mei she said, "See? When I'm scolding her, she's back to calling me grandma right away..."  
Mei smiled to her, she could feel the affection behind that little jest.  
Yuzu asked, after a while the woman had went to the kitchen to bring tea, "Grandpa isn't here?"  
"He went to the club. He should come home for lunch."  
Yuzu explained, "He's a Shogi player..."  
Mei lifted her brows, interested. "I can play Shogi..."  
Yuzu looked at her, smiling "I should have known..."  
Mei smirked, "What..."  
The blonde smirked back, "Oh, nothing. It's just, I can totally see it. You in a furisode, sitting on a porch, in front of the board..."  
Mei frowned, "You make me sound so old-fashioned."  
Yuzu chuckled, "It's not old-fashioned, It's... Just you."  
Yuzu's grandmother had been watching them for a bit. She smiled seeing her grand-daughters so friendly with each other. She sat down with them, serving tea. "So how's your mother... Is Aihara-San still abroad?" She asked, addressing both of the girls.  
It was Mei who replied."He's in Cambodia right now, he's going to come back next week..." her expression a little melancholic.  
Yuzu asked, "Will he make it for the festival?"  
Mei replied, "I hope so.." looking, though, terribly worried.  
She was anxious to see her father again. But the moment he came back home, the moment her and Yuzu had to talk with him about their relationship.  
Mei shook that worrying thought from her head. That was not the moment.  
Yuzu's grandmother rested a hand on her shoulder, mistaking her worry for longing. "I'm sure he'll make it... It's the cultural festival time, isn't it? Will you dress up in kimonos?"  
Yuzu grinned widely, "Sure! I told mom I needed a new one, my middle school one, it's almost waist length now..."  
The woman chuckled, "You sprouted like a soya bean these years... What about you, Mei-chan?"  
Mei blushed a little at the cute suffix she was called with, "I... My role is to manage things so they work out well, I don't think I'll take part in the celebrations..."  
Yuzu's grandmother looked surprised at the official tone the girl had assumed.  
Yuzu said, "She's the president of the student council..."  
Mei blushed, "Yuzu, you don't have to..."  
The woman noticed the absence of suffix in Mei calling her sister. They're close.  
But Yuzu went on any way, "...Even though we're both first years. She organized all the clubs activities on her own. She's the best at school, always the first ranking."  
While Mei watched her hands on her knees in embarrassment, the woman chuckled. "Oh my... Then what are you doing around my delinquent granddaughter!? Speak the truth Yuzu, is she here to keep an eye on you?" Then addressed the brunette. "Did she get into trouble? She's always been the difficult one."  
Mei smiled, "There were some... Problems in the beginning."  
Yuzu mentally thanked Mei for the euphemism.  
"But she got her head together and... She's really improved herself in such a short amount of time."  
A clack on the door and Yuzu sprang up to greet her grandfather.  
"Grandpa!" The man widened his smile and hugged her.  
"Oh the little rabbit is back to her hole!"  
Then Yuzu introduced Mei, "This is Mei, my... classmate. She can play Shogi, you know?"  
They had lunch together in idle chat and, while Yuzu baked some cookies with her grandmother, Mei played a game with the man, who complimented her for giving him truly a hard time, even if in the end he was the one to win.

They walked away between warm goodbyes and promises to come back.  
After some time walking, Mei smirked, feeling a little excited.  
"So... We just had our first date, right?"  
Yuzu didn't have the time to confirm, and she felt herself being pulled behind a hedge and kissed lightly on the lips.  
She stilled at first, but then she leaned onto Mei. Closing her eyes only after taking a sweet brief look at the brunette's face so close.  
When Mei parted from her, Yuzu noticed the smallest of smiles lingering on her lips. She stared and blushed.  
Mei asked "What...? " almost chuckling.  
Yuzu shook her head, "If I say it, you won't admit it..." she said lowering her face.  
Mei pulled her chin up, "What..." she said again, staring at Yuzu's eyes with a longing look.  
Yuzu smirked "...That you look happy."  
Mei blushed scarlet while Yuzu went to look at her feet not to stare at her embarrassment.  
But the brunette reached for her cheek and lifted her face back up. She was still flushed and she stuttered, "G-guess why..."  
Then she kissed her and this time she pushed herself through Yuzu's lips in a deeper kiss, holding her firmly in place. Some panting, hot seconds passed, but Mei soon realized that wasn't the place for these sort of effusions. She detached a little, seeing Yuzu was totally abandoned onto her, with her eyelids flickering and her lips still parted in hard breathing.  
She felt a shiver, and a jolt of arousal told her it was the moment to stop that game.  
Yuzu was twirled away from her spot, not realizing at first she had stood on her toes to have a better reach of Mei's lips.  
She saw the brunette was steadily preceding her on their way to the station, and she was pulling her by the hand. Yuzu felt her knees were still a bit jelly and imagined Mei was still flushing red for embarrassment... Or maybe not for that. Because she obstinately refused to turn her face towards her.  
She smiled to herself, "So where is this place you wanted to show me?"  
Mei still didn't look at her. "You'll see it when we're there... It's not so far, anyway."  
Yuzu made a quick stride to reach for Mei and they walked to the station side by side, slowly overcoming the sensation of being too daring to hold hands in public.  
The trip was silent but serene. They enjoyed the feeling of being together between total strangers on that crowded subway. When they changed line, Yuzu exclaimed, "Are we going towards the sea!?" Mei smiled at her honest and a little childish excitement and nodded.  
Yuzu held her hand tighter and waited for the train to go back to the surface to shout, "Look at how stormy it is!"

On the coast the sky was still serene but a wild wind was blowing from the ocean, and when they reached for the cliff it was a spectacular fight between rocks and waves, sending prickling droplets of foam to their faces. Yuzu was gaping at the shore and when she turned to smile to Mei, her hair was ruffled by the wind, framing her face. Mei got closer and pulled up her hood, not realizing she had an idiot smile on her face all the time.  
Yes, even Mei Aihara has the foolish look of someone in love.  
But Yuzu would have never made her aware, at risk of not seeing that expression ever again. Instead she leaned on her, hiding her face on her coat. "It's beautiful... Is it here you wanted to show me?"  
Mei shook her head and, following the line of the shore, she pointed to a promontory not so far away.  
"My house..." said Mei with a nostalgic nuance in her voice.

Yuzu almost always forgot that Mei's family was rich, filthily so.  
A traditional style villa, built right on the higher cliff was dominating the sight.  
Yuzu went wide eyed, sweet Jesus Christ...  
Mei took her hand again and lead her onto the humid solid sand, to the feet of the building.  
Under the house the wall of stone formed a little bay, where weed and woods had gathered. There the flow of the water wasn't so strong and only occasionally a wave bigger than the other splashed onto the stone, soaring up on the wall. Mei sat on a dry spot and Yuzu gaped face up at the building over her head. Then pointing to something moving on the sand...  
"Oh my god, how many are they!?"  
Mei chuckled at the city slicker Yuzu. A hundred or more purple crabs were crawling on the sand, going to find refuge under the weeds in waiting for the tide to retire, now that the sun was lowering.  
Yuzu was stepping on the stones, playing with a stick in a fight with the claw of a crab. Mei smiled again at the sight, warning her not to get too close to where water hit. When a voice erupted from the sea making the blonde yelp in surprise. A man in diving gear, armed with a harpoon and a little net, was emerging between the rocks. Gray hair was revealed when he took off his mask and hood.  
"Cough-cough-Ojousama! Nobody was expecting you, are you staying for the night?"  
Yuzu gaped at the suddenly close man who walked backwards with his fins on the sand.  
Mei stood up and smiled, waving as she got closer to her old acquaintance.  
"Just for the evening, until dinner time if it's not too much of a bother..."  
The man took off the upper part of the suit in the cold winter afternoon.  
"Not a bother at all, this house has missed you for too long!"  
Yuzu walked near, to see the shiny things that were crawling inside the net.  
A white squid, some black and brown urchins, a little octopus and two big olive colored crabs that were trying to cut their way out. The man smiled at the curious blonde girl.  
"Any friend of my little miss is my friend... I'm Shoutaro," he said bowing.  
Yuzu was about to bow as well, but they just heard Mei's voice shout a "Watch out!" and both the man and Yuzu were hit by a huge splash of foam and water coming from a backwash wave.  
The man laughed then bowed to the now drenched blonde girl in excuse for his inability to protect her, and went quickly to recover his precious hunt that was threatening to be returned to the sea. Mei walked near to the blonde, covering her with her coat.  
"Shoutaro would you please tell Misato to receive us?"  
The wind was fierce and Yuzu was already clattering her teeth. "Waaa, I'm so sorry, I got distracted... Brrrrr... so cold."  
Mei shielded her from the wind, while walking back up to the shore and then to the entrance of the home. Meanwhile the man had preceded them inside, from a steeper but quicker way.  
A maid opened the door for them right away and Mei disappeared in a room, coming back with a big towel after a second. The brunette held it for Yuzu at the entrance, rubbing her, to dry the water at least from her hair. Yuzu smiled when she felt some warmth go back to her bones and the maid collected their wet coats and shoes. Mei thanked the lady, who welcomed her back. Then wrapped Yuzu tight and accompanied her to her room.  
After a long wooden corridor, behind a dark heavy sliding door; a spacious room, facing a veranda on the sea, was Mei's bedroom.  
The brunette went away and came back with a hairdryer and a new blouse.  
Yuzu didn't wait for her to say it and got rid of her humid cold garment. Mei turned on the hairdryer and with a simple patting gesture, invited her to sit in front of her, while she knelt on the floor. After some minutes Yuzu felt all better and reversed her head back to look gratefully at Mei behind her. The brunette ruffled her now dry and warm hair and smiled at her upside-down relieved expression. Then went to kiss her, both of them enjoying the softness of the fuller lower lip. The thing had happened so naturally, both of them smiled in realization.  
Mei picked up the new blouse to cape it around Yuzu's shoulders. "Here..."  
"Thanks..." Yuzu donned it and stood up, seeing a yellowish light coming from the round, thinly grated windows on the veranda doors. Yuzu was about to open them, but Mei blocked her hands, "It's too cold outside..."  
Yuzu smiled to her now numerous attentive gestures and limited herself to stare in wonder at the spectacle in front of her eyes.  
The sun was setting already in that wintery afternoon by the sea. But the clean, crisp sky, revealed all of his shades, from gold to fiery red. Reflecting them on the rocky bay. Afar, where the sight could barely reach, the Miura peninsula stretched in the Pacific ocean, until the familiar silhouette of mount Fuji, capped by snow in the distance.  
"This is so... " Yuzu struggled to find words to describe what she was feeling and Mei hugged her from behind, resting her chin on her shoulder. Yuzu felt so happy and warm and safe.  
Mei was relaxed, naturally comfortable in that house she knew so well.  
Yuzu had happily noticed the way she had moved with confidence in the home where she had spent her infancy, even after many years. She rested her hands on Mei's, who didn't move and instead got closer in her embrace. She felt Mei's steady breathing on her neck. "You smell like the sea..." she said.  
Yuzu looked again outside the window. Now the warm light of the sunset was entering the room, painting the walls of red and orange. Yuzu felt like being in total peace for the first time in her life.  
She whispered, "Can we make it last forever?"  
Mei looked in her same direction and together they watched in silence as the reflections on the sea slowly became azure and then silver and dark.  
Mei left the softest of kisses on her neck, then looked into Yuzu's eyes, finding she was turning to look at her at the same time. Mei reached for Yuzu's face with her fingertips, trailing the line of her jaw and leaning closer for a kiss.  
Again, it had happened so naturally and spontaneously they both smiled, this time not in embarrassment, but reassuringly.  
Yuzu looked up to Mei in expectation and the brunette didn't have neither the will nor the strength to make her wait.  
They turned to face each other and kissed thirstily, both reaching for the other's neck and face, to pull each other closer. Yuzu leaned on the veranda doors as Mei started playing with her tongue and her hands reached lower to undo the buttons of her camisole.  
"I just put it on..." Yuzu said playfully. But Mei kissed her neck while undoing the first button, making her whimper in pleasure. "Then let me be the one to take it off..."  
Yuzu looked at the ceiling, while trying to grab at the last fragment of rationality she felt Mei was slowly but steadily kissing away.  
"Won't they hear us?"  
Mei raised her head, looked at her, then made a sign to wait a minute.  
Mei went to the corridor outside. Yuzu heard a door clack close and the brunette went back with a key in hand, which was used to close the door to that room too.  
Yuzu was still leaning onto the sliding doors of the veranda and Mei quite blatantly checked her out from head to toe, with her disheveled hair, her blouse open on a panting chest and her lips red and a bit swollen because of the kissing. Mei gulped, then let the key drop on the floor and covered the distance between them in a haste.  
She crashed her mouth onto hers, grabbing hold of her waist and nape as for dear life.  
Yuzu let herself be drawn in that kiss. Her breath hot and hitching into her throat, while Mei started to move feverishly onto her. Yuzu tried to make her way through the layers of Mei's clothes, until finally reaching for her skin, her waist, her sides.  
Mei groaned and pressed herself onto Yuzu, pushing a leg between hers.  
When the blonde's fingertips grazed her back under her sweater Mei quickly took it off, not bothering to check if some of her hair went in the way when she hurriedly went back to kiss Yuzu.  
The blonde felt her knees wobble when Mei got closer again and rocked her hips onto her, sending shivers down to her lower belly. She eyed the bed in suggestion, feeling it was only matter of time that her legs were turning to jelly.  
Mei broke the kiss and helped Yuzu sit down on the low bed, then crawled slowly by her side, while the blonde smiled sheepishly, laying down. Mei gathered her hair on a shoulder and lowered herself to graze Yuzu's lips with the softest of kisses. The blonde, though, wasn't satisfied with it and circled Mei's shoulders with her arms, holding her close and pulling her even closer.  
The brunette smiled and slowly let herself be drawn down, laying on top of her, legs intertwined, bodies close. Mei kissed her lazily and sweetly, while Yuzu was losing even the strength to hold her, grazing her neck, fingers through her black hair. The blonde was suddenly awakened from her slumber. She moaned loudly when a movement of Mei's hips sent a trail of pleasure that made her arch against her. The brunette smiled and kissed her hard, feeling teeth graze her tongue and stared at her while Yuzu shook again, reacting to another wave of pleasure. The blonde breathed hard between the kisses and her now grasping hands reached for Mei's butt, to press herself onto her even more. Mei grasped for Yuzu's thigh to lift it up a bit and improve their contact. Her hand revealed, as the fabric of her skirt fell back, a softness she failed to appreciate completely on their last rushed encounter. Mei took an instant to look into Yuzu's eyes as her hand went to the hem of her skirt, looking for the zipper to loosen. The blonde gave her a hand and lifted her hips to get free of it. Mei stared at her own hand slowly grazing Yuzu's soft and slender leg, then reached for her own skirt hem, waiting for Yuzu to help her get rid of it.

When they embraced again, the feeling was completely different. The warmth of each others' skin on their legs and through their panties was a growing heat that shook them when their rocking met halfway. Mei was the one in control and she slid onto Yuzu a bit, while pressing herself against her. The blonde arched her back and reversed her head in response. She blinked her surprise in a little whimper and enjoyed the change of pace of Mei lowering herself to kiss and lick her neck. Seeing she was on the right path, the brunette lifted herself a little and repeated the movement. This time Yuzu clenched her eyes and breathed out soundly, then looked at Mei straight in the eyes, meeting her in the next wave with a shaking breath. Mei stared at her, moving onto her and feeling her need to just go on. Yuzu reached for Mei's face, passing her fingers through her hair and pulling her into a hungry, messy kiss. When Yuzu was hit again by a jolt of pleasure Mei just pressed her body on hers again, with a last arching of her back, feeling and hearing her now loud moan on her open lips. Then Yuzu's hands clawed at her shoulders and her legs clutched her thigh in the climax. Eyes clenched, their breaths mixed in a shaky burning last kiss.

After an instant Yuzu slowly tried to open her eyes, but failed miserably.  
Mei smiled, going to whisper in her ear, "Take your time..."  
But Yuzu tried again, this time looking at Mei's vaguely proud smirk. She left soft kisses on her face, while she admired the recovering of her victim, sliding down from her, resting by her side.  
Yuzu rolled, going to hide her face in Mei's chest and holding her. The brunette let her do it, while Yuzu mumbled something unintelligible. "What?" chuckled Mei, detaching herself a little.  
Yuzu though didn't seem to want to let her go and followed her movements, going to top her, still hiding her face, this time in the nape of her neck. She started laying a trail of kisses there. "Mei..." down to her collarbone, "Mei..." and to her chest. "Mei... Mei, Mei, My Mei!" Chanted the blonde, while kissing between her breasts, her stomach, belly, halting to look at her smiling expression and then hiding her blushing face onto her.  
Mei blushed at that. She smiled passing a hand through her golden waves, while Yuzu caressed her side, her leg, sometimes leaving pecks on her belly.  
Mei smiled to Yuzu when she looked up at her. "Should I go and get something to eat? So that we won't be disturbed for dinner... You could rest in the meantime." Yuzu nodded and slid off from her. Mei wore a yukata and headed out, while the blonde laid on the sheets, spreading her arms and breathing their scent on the covers.

Yuzu was sleeping on her belly when Mei came back with some sandwiches and tea. She watched her peaceful expression while laying the tray down on her desk and smiled in seeing Yuzu's cheek a little puffed onto the covers.  
She slowly knelt on the bed and leaned onto her, to kiss that too inviting pink cheek.  
She lingered an instant but the blonde didn't seem to notice. She kissed her again, "Yuzu..." Mei called whispering in her ear.  
"Hmmm..." and no other response.  
Mei smiled and leaned again onto her, to whisper "Yuzu..." then kissed her ear and stared lovingly at that beautiful girl laying in front of her.  
From that close, she felt like that was too much to behold.  
"I love you... " The words escaped her lips in a flow, almost without her reckoning.

The blonde seemed to not have processed the words. "Hmm.. Hm!?"  
Then she sprang up on her knees, blinking away sleepiness and gaping at Mei, who was waiting peacefully for her to awake definitely.  
Yuzu's face was a mess, hair ruffled, the lines left by the sheets on her cheek, and she was gaping like an idiot.  
Mei thought she never looked so beautiful as that moment.  
She chuckled a bit, getting closer, she grazed Yuzu's cheek with the back of her fingers.  
The blonde closed her eyes for an instant, then followed her every movement, not wanting to look away even for a second. Mei smiled and Yuzu felt her eyes becoming teary.  
'She said it. 'I love you,' She had said it'.  
Mei kissed her lightly, "Was it too sudden?"  
Yuzu shook her head.  
"Then why are you crying?"  
"It's stupid... I won't say it," said the blonde launching herself to hug Mei, who caressed her hair.  
"Come on..."  
"It's an idiocy..."  
"What's wrong...?"  
Yuzu took some time. "I... I've always thought I'd be the first to say it..."  
Mei chuckled, detaching herself to look at her in the eye.  
"So you're sad because I beat you to it?" she said, amused.  
"Do-don't laugh at least! Aaaw... I should never have told you," said a now openly crying Yuzu, to Mei who still was laughing a bit.  
The blonde girl felt like crying her heart out. She was sad and happy in a way she never felt before. "I'm sorry I was still sleeping when you said it..."  
The brunette smiled and dried the tears from Yuzu's face.  
"I just felt like saying it... It's not such a big deal."  
Yuzu sniffed and smiled, her lips still trembling when Mei went to kiss them. A little last sob shook her, then Yuzu let go of everything and let herself be drawn by the hands that were caressing her, and the lips kissing her. Mei slowly took off her yukata then leaned on her, pushing her down, not before having opened the lace of her bra. Yuzu was abandoned in her arms, moaning softly at every touch.  
Mei looked at her between the kisses and found that the tears were gone.  
She lifted herself from the embrace to remove the lacy bra that was still tangled to Yuzu's arms and lowered herself to kiss her breasts, wanting to wake her up from her slumber.  
A light bite on a nipple and Yuzu hissed and arched against her mouth. The blonde blinked her passiveness away. She stared at Mei in a new determination. She slid down to reach her and kissed her forcibly. Her tongue darting into Mei's mouth, while her hands were on her butt, clawing, sliding under her panties to feel her naked skin, then going to her waist to press her against herself, in a need of new closeness. Mei managed to breath just in time before another greedy kiss clashed onto her lips. Yuzu was holding her firmly in place, a hand on her nape, messing with her hair, the other going to undo her bra and quickly removing it. Mei felt her breasts touch Yuzu's and panted into the blonde's mouth in excitement.  
Yuzu tried to roll over but Mei resisted and pushed her back down. "I'm not done with you yet..." she said while trying to regain her breath. Mei freed herself from her hold, then looked at Yuzu below, smirking while sliding down between her breasts, her stomach and following down to her bellybutton.

Realization stroke Yuzu when Mei didn't stop there but went to pull down the hem of her panties. "Wait!" she shouted, blushing red as a tomato.  
Mei didn't falter, talking in a provocative tone, grazing her mound's sensitive skin with her lips. "What's the matter?"  
"Wo-wouldn't it be weird?"  
Mei kissed her again, holding her finger where it was, hooked on her panties. "For you?"  
Yuzu gawked, while Mei watched her feline from over there.  
Yuzu blushed and felt her heartbeat raise. Mei was as hot as hell. The brunette reached with her other hand, pulling down another inch of her panties.  
Yuzu tried to stop her, "I-I mean... We've been around all da-aaay"

The brunette didn't seem to bother and grazed her with the tip of her tongue.  
"You're perfectly fine..." smirked Mei.  
To Yuzu, watching her dark eyes, looking at her from down below was the sexiest thing on earth. She didn't want her to stop, she just felt terribly embarrassed. She could feel being totally wet under her panties and Mei was so close she must have... Smelled it.  
Mei lifted herself from laying on Yuzu's side and stretched a hand, going to reach for one of Yuzu's. The brunette smiled. Yuzu was feeling her heart beat so strongly in her ears, she thought it must have moved there.  
Mei knelt beside her and leaned into her to kiss her. Then crawled onto her, guiding Yuzu's hand to her belly and under her panties, winning her feeble resistance, whispering "I'm the same... All the same."  
Yuzu was hypnotized by the feeling of her fingers sliding into her wetness.  
How many times had she imagined... Now reality was overwhelmingly compelling.  
She moved her fingers and Mei whimpered on her lips, retreating though almost immediately. Yuzu looked at her in confusion while Mei distanced, but the brunette was only trying to maintain her role. She kissed her again, smiling, "It's still your turn..."  
Yuzu smiled back and Mei kissed her again, slowly and sweetly. Her hand looking for the fingers that had touched her, intertwining with them. "Your fingers, your lips... Your body... It's just you, Yuzu. I want to kiss you... Would you let me do it?" Yuzu looked at the ceiling while she felt the brunette crawling down onto her. Her hands on her thighs, her breath on her belly, a kiss, before feeling the cloth of her panties graze her legs and being tossed away. Yuzu finally looked down, blushing deeply while pulling her knees up close. But then she met Mei's eyes and they were so calm, so reassuring and inviting she felt all embarrassment being blown away. The brunette rested her hands on Yuzu's knees and the blonde followed her gesture, spreading her legs. Mei lowered herself to reach her and Yuzu licked her lips instinctively, tensing a bit.

Mei's breathing was the first thing she felt, hot and shaky on her skin. Then she grazed her and Yuzu felt her breath being forced out. Mei kissed her mound in slow, wet nipping, then lowered her head, licking her outer lips, hearing a groan from the blonde and feeling Yuzu's hips starting to follow her when she repeated the same wet caress. Mei adjusted herself on Yuzu, clutching her thighs and licking and kissing a little more forcibly.  
When Yuzu rocked her hips up on her she darted inside, kissing full mouthed.  
Yuzu cried out in a loud trembling moan. She arched against her again, her hands going to reach for the sheets to clench. Mei slowly circled her with her tongue, then went back up, looking at the blonde's head pressed against the pillow. Yuzu looked down and in that moment Mei sucked on her, making her tremble in pleasure. Yuzu bit her lower lip and panted hard. The brunette smirked and went down on her again, licking her clitoris while Yuzu clutched the pillow under her head, clenching her teeth to prevent another loud cry from escaping her throat. Mei's mouth was so hot and soft, Yuzu went to reach for her and pushed back some strands of hair from her forehead. They smiled to each other and Mei sank her face again onto Yuzu, who cried out loud, feeling the flat licking and the tickling Mei was doing on her. She felt a tingle grow within her and her hips darted up at the moment Mei sucked again on her clit. Then Mei sped up the pace, in vertical licking and teasing tickling. The brunette clasped at her thighs to keep her down while Yuzu was shaking and breathing harder. The waves of heat and pleasure hit the blonde one after the other, until her mind went blank and she threw back her head, screaming in her pillow, sweating and panting in that cold November evening. Mei kissed her one last time. She then crawled up beside Yuzu, who was now slowly falling into slumber, and smiled, freeing the pillow from her weak grasp.  
Yuzu breathed deeply, realizing of barely having the strength to move. But then stretched her neck to look at Mei between her eyelids and kissing her lightly. She nipped at the metallic, just slightly salty taste of her lips, then fell down again.  
Mei looked at her with a smile on her face, then rested her head on her arms and enjoyed the rhythm of Yuzu's breathing for a while.  
The blonde rolled onto her, resting her head on Mei's back, feeling her heart was beating too strong and fast.  
"I love you too... I love you Mei. I lo-o-ve you so mu-ch"  
Mei chuckled. "Oh, why do you have to cry again...?" She asked, rolling to face her and being hugged right away in a teary wet kiss. "I don't know," Yuzu kissed her again. "I don't..." a sob "know..." She was a ball of soft, sobbing, moaning skin. Mei caressed her and kissed her softly. Then Yuzu started to chuckle and Mei smiled. "You're crazy..."  
Yuzu grinned between tears "It must be so..."  
Mei stared at her intensely. "I'm in love with a crazy, green eyed half Japanese girl." They kissed again.

* * *

**I had SO MUCH fun writing this thing, really, I never thought... I really loved it.**

**I think I got to a good point with the story, so I'm going to take it a little more easy with the following chapters. I'm the cruelest judge of my work and I'm not going to publish something that could just ruin the story so far... I had more than a thought of ending it here, 'cause, you know, happy ending yay! But there are still some points to be solved, so, hoping to come out with something deign I really hope to see you soon!**


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